Jobs could be at risk in Norfolk and Suffolk as Pizza Express announced plans to further cut its workforce amid falling sales.

The chain is planning to cut around 1,300 jobs across its 370 UK restaurants after recent trading worsened in the face of tightened coronavirus restrictions.

Pizza Express, which has restaurants in Norwich, King’s Lynn, Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury, had previously revealed plans to axe 1,100 roles and close 73 of its sites.

Current restrictions in England mean restaurants are unable to open past 10pm.

Zoe Bowley, managing director at Pizza Express, said: “Our aim throughout these extremely challenging times has been to keep our team members and customers safe and to retain jobs for as long as possible.

“Unfortunately, the recent increase in Covid-19 cases is again causing footfall to decline across the UK.

“As this is expected to continue for some months, we sadly need to make changes that will impact more of our team members.

“Our people remain at the heart of our business and we are doing what we can to support those who are affected.

“We believe that this difficult decision will give us more resilience through the next six months and help us to continue serving our customers in our restaurants and at home in the years ahead.”

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