All JD Wetherspoon pubs in Wales will close on Friday.

All sites, including The Black Boy pub in Newtown, The George Hotel in Brecon and Yr Hen Orsaf in Aberystwyth, will close at 6pm.

The chain's chairman, Tim Martin, confirmed that they would be closing all pubs in response to the new rules announced by First Minister Mark Drakeford.

New coronavirus rules will come into force in Wales on Friday, December 4. Under the new measures, pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes will have to close by 6pm and will not be allowed to serve alcohol.

After 6pm they will only be able to provide takeaway services.

Mr Martin told BBC Radio Wales: "This new puritanism in Wales and elsewhere is madness, is economic madness.

"I don't want to wind the Welsh up by criticising their first minister, but he's talking cobblers.

"There's very good evidence that lockdowns - and this is a type of lockdown, it's a quasi-lockdown - simply don't work...

"This scare tactic saying so many people are going to die is nonsense in my opinion."

When announcing the new measures on Monday, First Minister Mark Drakeford, said: "Unfortunately, the virus is moving incredibly quickly across Wales and is eroding the gains we made during the firebreak period. We now need to take further steps together as a nation to protect people’s health and slow the spread of coronavirus.

"This virus – and this pandemic – continues to be full of unpleasant surprises. It thrives on our normal human behaviour and all those places and opportunities where we come together.

"It underlines why we need to take further, targeted action now. We will focus these changes on places where we meet and where coronavirus thrives, drawing on recent evidence from the UK SAGE group of experts about what interventions have had the biggest impact on the virus."

A resident connected to Wetherspoon, who asked not to be named, told the North Wales Pioneer: "Everyone is going back on furlough on Friday."