A stricter system of tiers to be introduced at the end of England’s lockdown will “ruin Christmas” for struggling restaurants, hotels and pubs, the hospitality industry has warned. The retail industry expressed relief that all shops will reopen on 2 December during the crucial Christmas trading weeks, alongside gyms and personal care services such as hairdressers and barbers. However, the hospitality industry bore the brunt of toughened rules. Pubs and restaurants will be limited to takeaway and delivery services in the highest-risk, tier 3 areas, a tightening of previous rules that allowed dining. Household mixing will be banned indoors in the second tier. The new measures will come into place after 2 December, when England’s lockdown ends. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, on Monday afternoon confirmed that the new restrictions would be tougher than before the lockdown. UKHospitality, a lobby group, said restrictions on household mixing were the biggest threat to the industry’s revenues. “This is effectively a lockdown for businesses in tier 3 and further purgatory for those facing even tighter restrictions in tier 2,” it said in a statement. “Rather than saving Christmas, these damaging measures will ruin it for hospitality businesses and their customers.” The despair of hospitality businesses stood in contrast to the retail sector, with non-essential shops given three weeks of sales before Christmas. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, which represents shops, said: “While retailers have stepped up their online delivery over the course of 2020, the bulk of Christmas shopping tends to be done in store. The government’s decision to keep all of retail open will help to preserve jobs and the economy and help keep Christmas a festive occasion for everyone.” Richard Lambert, chief executive of the National Hair & Beauty Federation, welcomed the blanket reopening for all English hairdressers and barbers, but called for a reduction in VAT to help them recover from previous lockdowns. Hospitality business owners said they were angry with the government for what they saw as an unfair targeting of the sector, as well as lower levels of financial support compared with the earlier lockdowns. Paul Crossman, a campaigner who owns three pubs in York, said his pubs, which do not serve food, would probably be forced to remain closed under both tiers 2 and 3 if household mixing were banned, despite the expected relaxation of the 10pm curfew in tiers 1 and 2, which will allow pubgoers in lower-tier areas until 11pm to finish their drinks. “The reason pubs are going under is because of the fixed overhead costs,” he said. “They’re looking down the barrel of years and years of rent arrears. Many [publicans] are choosing to walk away.” Victoria MacDonald, who runs the Cellar House pub and the Old Ram Coaching Inn in Norfolk, said she wanted the government to trust hospitality businesses to run in a Covid-secure way. Tighter restrictions would be “incredibly devastating”, she said, adding that the popularity of takeaway food had diminished as the novelty wore off. “Financially it’s an absolute nightmare,” she added.