Scotland’s hospitality sector has reacted angrily to new restrictions that will see the closure of pubs and restaurants across the country’s “central belt” from October 9th (6pm) until October 25th. Tighter controls in the rest of the country will also come into force.

In the central belt, cafés without an alcohol licence can remain open, so too can takeaways. Evening meals can be served in hotels but not with alcohol.

In the rest of the country, foodservice outlets including pubs and restaurants can open inside from 6am to 6pm, selling only food and soft drinks. Alcohol can be sold in outside areas until 10pm.

The UK Government is also reportedly considering tougher curbs in England as the rise in cases of covid-19 shows no signs of slowing down.

“This industry is in tatters, it’s in trouble and now there’s turmoil,” Stephen Leckie, chairman of the Scottish Tourism Alliance told the BBC. He had 50 cancellations from customers for his Crieff Hydro Hotel within an hour of the announcement on Wednesday afternoon.

First minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It is by taking the tough but necessary action now that we hope to avoid even tougher action in future.”

Alongside the announcement was an evidence paper detailing the reasons for the new rules. Hospitality presents “one of the highest risks”, the paper noted, with people of different ages with different individual risk profiles mixing with other households, or being seated close to those from other households for more than 15 minutes.

“From the details of interviews that have been completed as part of test and protect at the time of reporting, we can see that the percentage of individuals who have tested positive for covid-19 and who have reported hospitality exposure (pubs, restaurants, cafés etc) has been consistently over 20% in September and up to 26% in the period from the end of July to the beginning of October. All ages are included but of the 26%, half were in the 20-39 age group.”

Modelling also showed that around three weeks after the reopening of hospitality businesses, the R rate – which shows the disease’s ability to spread – rose to one and above. “While this cannot be entirely attributed to hospitality, it is likely to have played a significant role,” the paper noted.

The Scottish Government promised a £40m package to support businesses affected, though the details of this have yet to be published.

Industry representatives offered a bleak outlook. The Scottish Chambers of Commerce said the new restrictions will “sound the death knell” for businesses across the hospitality sector. Camra, the campaign for real ales, called them an “absolutely devastating blow” for pubs and breweries; publicans who have invested heavily to make their premises “covid safe” and been running at reduced rates will “understandably feel like pubs have become the scapegoat for the pandemic”.

UKHospitality executive director for Scotland Willie Macleod said forced closures will “spell the end for many, many venues”. He said any support to underwrite furlough must go “far beyond the job support scheme, which seems unlikely to be taken up by many hospitality businesses. We cannot afford to be left in limbo,” he added.

Earlier this week UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls called on MPs to rethink the 10pm curfew put in place. “The regulatory impact on businesses needs to be considered, particularly when so low [a] number of outbreaks are linked to hospitality,” she said.

Next week MPs will vote on whether to retrospectively approve the curfew. Pressure has been growing on the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to set out the evidence for the rules already in place as he mulls over more restrictions. An announcement is expected early next week, according to the BBC.