THE Wee Restaurant in North Queensferry has changed its booking policy following a rise in no-shows.

The highly-rated restaurant will now be taking £10 per person deposits from guests when they book online.

Vicky Wood, who owns the popular eatery along with chef husband Craig, said that no-shows had been pretty much non-existent before lockdown but there had been a sudden rise since they re-opened in August.

She said: "It is quite a problem which has surprised us all.

"We thought people would be keen to get back out and be thinking about businesses that have been in financial distress because of lockdown.

"I don't know if they have forgotten or they've been hedging their bets as it's been hard to get in places.

"I obviously don't want them to come in when they are unwell and of course we understand if they can't but they could at least give us a phone.

"It seems though it has been worse for everybody and other restaurants across Scotland have told us they've been experiencing the same thing

"Hopefully, charging a deposit will have the desired effect."

No-shows are mostly making an impact at the weekend when other customers have had to be turned away but it all costs the business as they order particular quantities of food in and make sure they have enough staff to cover the bookings they have.

"There is a knock-on effect," Vicky added.

"Thankfully, we have been pretty much full since we opened on August 4 and we're lucky to have a lot of regulars who wouldn't do that.

"It does particularly seem to be tourists who are not showing up and the majority of people have been supportive of our decision to charge a deposit."