A Harpenden resident has this week been made redundant as a result of a huge downturn in sales following the coronavirus outbreak.

Peter Boswell, 37, a former hospitality learning and development manager, attributes the redundancy to the pandemic as the sales have rapidly dropped overnight.

He said: “I was nine months into a wonderful role and this has ruined me financially and for my career.

“The irony is that my role was to develop staff and to help them feel motivated and yet, these kind of roles are often the first to go.

“I’ve started a crowdfund to try and see me through.”

Peter had been in the industry since he was 16 and describes it as “always lively and busy”.

He said: “The market now is absolutely bleak and I am not sure what I will do next.”

Peter says he did not leave the company - which he does not want to name - on bad terms.

To help Peter visit www.gofundme.com/f/coronavirus-redundancy-help