Lakeside Miller & Carter floating restaurant starts to sink

A floating restaurant has partially sunk into a lake at a major UK shopping centre.

Pictures showed part of the Miller & Carter restaurant, located in a converted paddle steamer at Lakeside in Essex, starting to submerge.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said it was informed of the sinking at about 11:00 GMT but crews were not required to attend.

A fire spokeswoman said no-one was still in the restaurant.

A spokesman for Miller & Carter Lakeside said: “We are aware of the situation at our Lakeside restaurant. Regrettably, due to the scale of damage we were forced to close immediately.

“Our priority is our guests, and our teams are working hard to contact everyone who holds a booking with us to inform them of the unforeseeable incident and issue refunds as quickly as possible.”

A further post on the branch’s Facebook page reported the restaurant would be closed until “further notice due to structural issues”.

The page said the restaurant was refurbished in October 2019.

Ben Stanley, manager at the nearby Casco Lounge restaurant, said Lakeside Shopping Centre “quickly” cordoned off an area beside the boat.

He said: “There is a security guard in the way blocking people from getting through, but they have now opened up the walkway.”

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