Richard Whiteley's old local The Hermit Inn near Ilkley closes permanently due to Covid-19 crisis

The Hermitt Inn was used as a polling station in 2016

The Hermit Inn in the hamlet of Burley Woodhead is a popular spot for walkers and cyclists and was the late Countdown presenter Richard Whiteley's local when he lived in the area.

It was even named one of Britain's prettiest polling stations after being requistioned for the EU referendum vote in 2016.

Three years ago, it turned over a weekly profit of around £7,000 with more than half of its income coming from food service.

Yet Covid-19 restrictions have meant the business has become unviable and it has closed permanently.

A statement on the pub's Twitter page read: "Sadly we are now closed permanently but we would like to thank all of our customers for their patronage. It’s sad but we aren’t the first and we won’t be the last. Cheers to our MPs - they've killed a 400-year-old pub."

The Hermit participated in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme in August and landlady Gill also ran a takeaway service during lockdown.

The inn is named after an 18th-century hermit who lived on the nearby moors.

It last went up for sale in 2017, when long-term landlords Brian and Christine Frost retired, having had two separate spells running the pub.

It was also a regular haunt of the writer Alfred Brown, who published a series of early walkers' guides to 'tramping' and contributed to Country Life magazine.

Other pubs in Yorkshire which have become financial casualties of the pandemic include gastropub The Moorcock Inn at Sowerby Bridge, which has also shut permanently.