One of the UK's leading hoteliers has called for an urgent review of the 10pm curfew, warning that thousands of hotels could fold under the strain.

Robin Hutson, the founder of the Pig Hotels group, which operates boutique country house hotels in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Southampton and Kent said that it had 500 cancellations within 24 hours of the curfew being announced.

And he said that the new one-size-fits-all rules will cripple small hotels and rural restaurants that can no longer turn tables or even accommodate all of its room guests for dinner.

The outspoken hotelier took to Twitter to invite the PM Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds to a romantic getaway but warned they'd have to be tucked up by 10pm.

Mr Hutson said: "I don't think the government properly considered the fact that in introducing a blanket curfew to crack down on the increase of Covid posed by the super pubs, drinking dens and the city centre establishments that they were also sweeping up the small rural hotels and small restaurants - thousands of them up and down the country.

"They are being governed by the same rules but there's zero evidence that they are increasing the incidences of Covid-19.

"In the three months that they have been open, the hospitality industry has proven it has gone above and beyond to keep everyone safe. I think that the most recent Public Health England statistics show that just 2.8% of incidents can be traced back to a hospitality setting.

"The collateral damage will be huge - this will have a massively detrimental effect on the very businesses that have shown that they have acted responsibly. It's completely illogical', he said.

Mr Hutson, who opened his newest hotel £13million Pig at Harlyn Bay in Cornwall in July, has been in touch with advisors to Number 10 about the issue.

He first established contact with the government and spoke directly to Boris Johnson when the lockdown hit to lobby for the hospitality sector.

'I am in constant discussion and I remain ever hopeful.

"I do feel that the hospitality sector is being unfairly targeted and it seems that the sector is the only lever the the Government is prepared to pull."

Mr Hutson said that the staycation summer had helped UK tourism hotspots and initiatives like the reduction in VAT and furlough had helped ease financial pressure.

"But this curfew is just a totally unnecessary measure. The Government really does need to think about the consequences of this - it will push some businesses off the edge."

Mr Hutson's comments come after Raphael Herzog, chairman of the Bristol Hoteliers Association (BHA), hit out at the new restrictions.

He said it would cost venues 'tens of thousands' every month and do nothing to reduce the R rate with punters instead choosing to party at home after the bars have closed.

In Nottingham, Andy Crawford, who runs around 30 pubs including Bunkers Hill in Nottingham, the Keyworth Tavern and the Lion at Basford, said the new measures will have a “devastating impact” on some sectors of the hospitality industry.