A TAUNTON restaurant has temporarily closed after a member of staff tested positive for Covid-19.

Bare Grills, in Bridge Street, is undergoing a deep clean, while the staff member is self isolating.

The company has posted the following message on Facebook: "A member of staff has recently tested positive for Coronavirus at our Taunton branch.

"This staff member has since been in isolation and has shown no symptoms before the test, nor after.

"As a precaution, we will be temporarily closing the restaurant to allow for the necessary deep clean.

"At this stage, we do not believe anyone who visited us over the weekend will need to self-isolate, however we are working with Public Health England, and will have clarification of this in the morning.

"As always, staff and customer safety has always been our top priority since the beginning of this, and we need to be confident we can return to a completely safe site.

"Unfortunately, being a small independent, we do not have the manpower to bring in a relief team to keep the restaurant open at this time.

"I think we speak for the industry as a whole when we say that we are faced with difficult times ahead, and COVID is far from being a thing of the past.

"Our views and priorities remain the same though: Keeping everyone safe, cooking good quality food, and keeping peoples bellies full.

"This is a bitter pill to swallow for us, but everyone’s safety comes first. This isn’t and won’t be the end. We will see you all soon."

Bare Grills is the second restaurant in the town to temporarily close due to Covid-19.

Augustus, which closed after a customer and a member of staff's partner tested positive for the virus, is set to re-open on Tuesday.

And pupils in two year groups at Bishop Fox's School and one year group at Parkfield Primary School have been sent home after a total of three pupils contracted the virus. Seven staff at Parkfield have also been told to stay home following the child's positive test.

Mama Bears Nursery in the town is also temporarily closed after a child tested positive.