AN ASIAN restaurant is ‘gutted’ after announcing it is closing its doors after eight years.

Isan Thai is a popular restaurant in Parkstone offering Thai cuisine and a friendly atmosphere.

Phil Milton and his wife have been the ‘heart and soul’ of the restaurant since it was first opened in 2016.

Now, the couple have announced that the restaurant is closing its doors later this month.

Speaking on the closure, Phil said: “We were doing very well up until lockdown.

"But when the VAT came back up to 20 per cent - it is a massive problem because in a restaurant, whenever you buy in a product to cook, it's got zero rated VAT on it which means we can't claim anything back.

“So as soon as we cook it, we have to charge 20 per cent VAT on it which is a big amount of money to find.

“The utility bills also went up by three times the amount that we were paying, so that became unmanageable, it basically became impossible to continue trading."

Phil added: “We put heart and soul into this for eight years, and it's a business that we built up from scratch, it had a good reputation so it’s heart-breaking.

“There may be a small chance we'll come back, but if we came back, we obviously can't go the same scale because it would be the same situation because the overheads will be just too high.

“At the end of the day, it's like a perfect storm, the customers are going through a cost-of-living crisis, so they can't really afford to go out as much as they used to.”

In a post to customers online, Isan Thai said: “We want to say a massive thank you for all the kind messages we have received since announcing our closure.

"Over the years we have put blood, sweat and tears into the business, but battling through Covid and the continued price increases we can no longer go on. We have clung on as long as possible.

“We haven't got back to everyone yet but your words of support and wishes have really touch the Isan Thai family.”

The last day of trading for Isan Thai will be September 28.