TWELVE members of staff at Trago Mills are to be made redundant with the announcement the leisure park and Staple Hill restaurant complex are to close.

In an update, bosses at the Newton Abbot store say the leisure park is ‘no longer financially viable’ in its current form and will close.

This means the redundancy of five members of staff,

The steam railway will remain open for now while sustainable options are explored to enable it to continue operating.

A spokesman said: ‘We recognise its importance to visitors and the local community and will provide further updates as plans progress.’

At the restaurant, store bosses said it was with ‘great regret’ they confirmed its closure on December 31 following a period of consultation.

The decision was made ‘with careful consideration of the long-term viability of the operation’.

The statement said: ‘Where possible, colleagues have been relocated to other areas of the business, however, we regret that this process will see seven valued colleagues leaving us through redundancy.

‘We would like to thank all affected staff for their hard work and commitment, and we will continue to offer support to those impacted.

‘We recognise that this will be disappointing news for both our customers and colleagues, and we sincerely thank everyone who has supported the restaurant over the years.

‘While this has been a difficult decision, it enables us to focus on providing a sustainable and improved offering for our customers going forward.’