Pubs and restaurants expect rail strikes to hit third of Christmas bookings

Action could cost hospitality sector 1.5bn in lost sales' in peak season as it continues to struggle with rising costs

Hotels, restaurants and pubs expect more than a third of their bookings to be cancelled this month as the threat of rail strikes during the peak Christmas party period hits trade.

The trade body UKHospitality said it expected the strikes to cost businesses about 1.5bn in lost sales and other knock-on effects, with a lack of a breakthrough deal pushing up expected cancellations to between 35% and 40% from between 20% and 30% at present.