CELEBRITY chef Paul Heathcote has closed his flagship Liverpool restaurant.

The chef said Simply Heathcotes struggled after a bridge link that took thousands of workers past his restaurant was demolished leaving it in a cul-de-sac at a time when recession was biting. The restaurant, which was regarded one of the best in the city, shut yesterday.

Mr Heathcote’s popular Olive Press restaurant in nearby Castle Street remains open and he said he would not rule out opening another restaurant in Liverpool in the future.

He said: “I feel a little bit like a boxer who has been boxing for 10 years and has just been knocked down on the floor. We’ve got to get through this and in a couple of weeks I’ll be the same person.

“It’s disappointing. I’ve stuck with it for the best part of two years since the bridge has come down and not been able to turn it around.”

The bridge across the Strand that linked the Pier Head with Beetham Plaza, where Heathcotes sits, was one of the last remnants of the city’s network of overhead walkways. It was demolished in November 2007.

Mr Heathcote said: “The last two years have been fairly tough in terms of recession. But I think we would have weathered that had our location been better.

“The bridge was removed and we suddenly had a couple of thousand people not going past any more. We effectively became a cul-de-sac.

“There’s also increased competition in the area. We’ve probably got a site now that’s not the same as it was when we took it 10 years ago.

“There are also more eateries nearby that people walk past.

“That includes the Olive Press – we’ve increased competition in our own area.”