ANY delay to the final unlocking of legal restrictions would be a blow to York’s economy, warns a leading business figure.

Businesses in the city are waiting to hear whether Boris Johnson will decide on Monday, June 14, to proceed with Step 4 of the roadmap, which is pencilled in for June 21.

Sectors such as tourism, hospitality and events, such as weddings and sports fixtures, have been hard hit by the Step 3 limitations, but doubts have been raised over whether the roadmap will go ahead as cases of the more transmissible Delta variant rise.

Carolyn Frank, of the Federation of Small Businesses North Yorkshire, said small businesses in York were monitoring speculation about the roadmap.

She said it was vital that any delay is off-set with additional support, such as pushing back repayment deadlines for bounce back loans and delaying the furlough contributions increase for employers, especially for those unable to open or operate at capacity.

“This is most critical for the events industry, and the wedding industry and other businesses who have now had 15 months of no trading, although restrictions on capacity are widespread across many sectors.

“Small businesses need clarity and simplicity in the rules, and additional financial support, if a delay or changes to rules are announced.

“Businesses and residents in York are working hard to keep cases low, and any delay would be a real blow to the economy. After a very buoyant half-term, and strong reopening led by small businesses, we need to make sure progress continues to be made to full reopening without further delays and added complexity to restrictions.”

James Brennan, spokesman for York Racecourse which has been hit by the restrictions, said: "We are consuming the speculation about what Boris will say with a vested interest, the same as every restaurant, theatre, museum and many other businesses.

"The difference between operating any space with two-metre social distancing as opposed to one metre is significant on capacity. We have some big days ahead and some real enthusiasm from racegoers about coming back. We want to accommodate that, selfishly for our sake, for those coming back and for the sake of the businesses we work with. We need to be guided by public health experts to do that safely."

A three-week delay would impact July's John Smith's Cup. Step 3 limits crowds to 4,000; the meeting pre-Covid in 2019 attracted about 30,000.

An economic impact study by Sheffield Hallam University in 2020 revealed that 320,900 people attended York Racecourse in 2019 with one in 20 staying overnight. It said revenue across all nine Yorkshire racecourses topped £90m, with race goers spending £34.1m off-course, for example on food, transport and hotels.