Pizza Express to close Hereford and Ludlow restaurants

Pizza Express has announced the closure of its restaurants in Hereford and Ludlow.

Pizza Express, which is majority owned by Chinese firm Hony Capital, said it had also placed the business up for sale.

UK & Ireland managing director, Zoe Bowley, said "incredibly tough decisions to safeguard Pizza Express for the long term" had to be taken.

She added: "Today we have confirmed that 73 of our pizzerias are proposed to close permanently.

"Our focus is on our people whose jobs are impacted and we will be doing everything we can either to redeploy them or to support them in finding roles elsewhere.

"Hard as this process is, it will protect the jobs of over 9,000 of our colleagues and provide a strong footing for Pizza Express to meet future challenges and opportunities."