Staff at Cheddar Gorge and Caves have confirmed to Nub News that they were told last week that their jobs were at risk - but not that the caves were closing for the foreseeable future .

Forty staff are said to be losing their jobs with the closure of the caves which was formally announced by parent company Longleat Enterprises today (September 20).

A staff member told Nub News that she had been told that her job was at risk, but not that the caves were closing for the rest of the year.

She told Nub : " Cheddar have made many changes in my seven years; and more changes are needed in the operations of the business as a whole. This is an opportunity from a bad situation to look more closely at how those changes are best put into practice. While the business remains quiet.

"It's a sad time for all the staff who have a very close working relationship."

The caves were closed on Saturday March 21 and have never fully re-opened. In July the company did plan to re-open the show caves but that did not happen, although the Gorge itself remained accessible and both Jacob's Ladder and the Museum of Prehistory opened daily.

Longleat Enterprises said in a statement that the caves would not be re-opening this year and it "could not seeing that changing in 2021".

"The effect of the pandemic on our operations has been profound," it said. The staff, all based at Cheddar, will now be entering into a formal redundancy process.

Local comic Richard K Herring tweeted : " This is a disaster for Cheddar. Hope it's open again soon."

Unconfirmed reports on social media say that the Costa Coffee shop at the entrance to the main caves is also due to close.

Cheddar Gorge attracts about 500,000 visitors per year and it is not known what the closure of the caves and the attractions will mean for businesses in the village.