Landlady 'feels like plague victim' after pub shut down over Covid rule-breaking

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A landlady claims she's been made to feel like a "plague" victim after police closed her pub because households were mingling.

Officials claim customers at The Wharton Arms were ignoring the rules, strolling around without masks and refusing to socially distance.

It was the first Northumberland pub to be ordered to shut under tough new coronavirus laws.

However, furious boss Maxine Stubbs is fighting the closure, slamming the "over the top" allegations made against her Bedlington boozer.

Rather than a bar awash with frivolity, she claims the pub had just 30 customers when police visited last Saturday night - and that she'd taken just £100 all day.

"I feel like I'm in a dream world when I read what they've claimed has gone on," said Maxine, 42.