A NUMBER of staff at a pub are self-isolating after two of them tested positive for coronavirus.

Four employees at the Furness Railway have been forced to self-isolate along with the pair as a precaution.

Eddie Gershon, a spokesman for JD Wetherspoon, which runs the pub in Barrow's Abbey Road, said the four 'may have come into close contact' with the staff members who had tested positive.

"Close contact means being within two metres of a person who tested positive for the virus for 15 minutes or more, or within one metre for one minute or more," said Mr Gershon.

Mr Gershon said the pub was not required to close and had not done so.

"Staff are conducting regular surface cleaning and numerous hand sanitisers are in place in each pub," he said.

"The operating procedures and hygiene practices implemented by the company mean that all hand contact points are frequently cleaned and sanitised throughout the day.

"Pubs are also thoroughly cleaned at the end of every trading day.

"In addition, Wetherspoon has implemented a number of social distancing measures in all its pubs.

"These include reduced capacity levels, the spacing out of tables and the installation of a number of floor screens between tables."

Mr Gershon stressed it was 'not possible to create an entirely risk-free environment'.

However, he said: "Adherence to social distancing guidelines and rigorous implementation of hygiene standards minimises the risk."

The employees who tested positive did so via rapid lateral flow tests on June 17. They are currently awaiting the results of lab-based tests.