Hundreds of people booked Christmas Day meals at a Miller & Carter but the restaurant was forced to close last minute for safety reasons. Bosses have given them a refund and a free meal
Bradley Jolly Overnight News Editor, Liam Doyle, Elizabeta Ranxburgaj and Zesha Saleem
20:32, 26 Dec 2025
Diners were devastated after the restaurant closed without warning(Image: GRAHAM YOUNG)
Hundreds of diners looking forward to a lavish Christmas feast were left gutted after shelling out more than £100 each – only for the restaurant to shut its doors on them.
Families from Hockley Heath in Solihull and surrounding areas in the West Midlands had secured precious bookings for Miller and Carter’s renowned Christmas Day meal on December 25.
The festive set menu typically sets diners back £105 per head, with a source revealing to the Mirror that “hundreds” were relishing the prospect of tucking into a delicious dinner without the dreaded washing-up afterwards. It comes after EuroMillions’ biggest ever UK winners’ Joe and Jess Twaite celebrated their lottery win at a local Miller & Carter.
But bosses at the Hockley Heath branch left punters heartbroken when they were forced to shut on the big day due to a faulty extractor fan, causing one family to completely “write off” their Christmas Day.
The restaurant informed customers of the issue in a Facebook post at 1.20pm
At 1pm on December 25, Miller and Carter broke the devastating news to families, explaining the restaurant had to close after suffering an “unexpected electrical issue” that knocked out the entire extractor fan system, reports the Mirror.
A spokesperson took to the venue’s Facebook page to explain that whilst engineers had been rushed out, they couldn’t fix the problem.
They posted: “There is no easy way to say this but Miller and Carter Hockley Heath has had to close our doors today due to an unexpected electrical issue in our kitchen meaning that our extractor fan system is not working.
“We have had engineers working all morning to try and resolve this issue but unfortunately are unable to do so. This means we are unable to open our kitchens today.
“Our management team are currently contacting all bookings to advise them of this closure. We apologise for any inconvenience and those affected will be contacted by senior management in the next couple of days.”
The Facebook post went live at 1.20pm, well over an hour after some punters said they’d already secured tables at the eatery.
One customer, who didn’t want to be named, told the Mirror the venue had “hundreds” of diners who’d already reserved and stumped up cash.
Hundreds of people are said to have booked meals at the restaurant for Christmas Day (stock)(Image: Getty Images)
They said: “This is disastrous. I know the pub and hundreds have booked and paid £105 per head for dinner. Now they will have no food in for their own Christmas dinner and have had their plans scuppered. What will they do? It’s a huge blow this Christmas, and I feel sorry for these families.”
Amongst those left high and dry by the last-minute axing was James Munro, who’d secured a 12pm table for himself and 12 relatives.
Speaking to the Mirror, Mr Munro revealed he’d organised the family feast after his sister made the trek up from Devon to celebrate the festive season with his clan, only to be left with a completely ruined Christmas when Miller and Carter didn’t bother telling them about the shutdown.
He explained: “There were 13 of us, including my sister’s family, a friends family of four and my wife’s mother.
“We heard the news about half an hour before our booking. Initially we were sceptical and assumed they would sort the problem out, so myself and my brother-in-law decided to walk over at midday.
One Miller & Carter customer said they only found out abou the closure an hour before their booking(Image: GRAHAM YOUNG)
“We were then told the news was true and that the extraction unit had failed and they couldn’t get the part. Apparently the ovens won’t turn on without the extractor as a safety measure. I questioned why we hadn’t received a call and they claimed they had tried to call my sister, yet she had no missed calls or voicemails so evidently that wasn’t true.
“They offered no solution and essentially apologised saying there’s nothing they could do. I thought we should at the very least have been offered a drink or perhaps even some food to take away to cook at home.”
Mr Munro said the abrupt closure and late notification meant he and his family didn’t even have time to rustle up their own dinner, stating: “Safe to say the day has been a write off, perhaps if we had been informed early enough we might have had time to pull some scraps together.”
Miller & Carter representatives said an extractor fan issue caused them to close down(Image: GRAHAM YOUNG)
Other patrons following Miller and Carter’s page chimed in under the restaurant’s post announcing the closure, with some suggesting it should have provided booked diners with food for their own dinner.
One disgruntled commenter remarked: “Could they have not just given all the food to the booked customers to take home and cook? Not ideal situation but could of helped in a way.”
Another chimed in: “I can only imagine or the stock and prepped food that will be wasted.”
A third, who seemed less bothered by the cancellation, stated: “We were booked for Christmas lunch today but these things happen occasionally.”
Miller & Carter said staff arrived at 9am to find the fans did not work, meaning they could not open for safety reasons. After it was initially feared to be an electrical fault, it was discovered to be a mechanical fault which needed a new part.
The part was delivered at short notice on Christmas Day afternoon and fitted by 6pm, which was too late to serve food as the day’s guests had been cancelled. Disappointed guests were given a full refund and offered a free meal and round of drinks.
A spokesperson said: “Christmas Day is the most important day of the year for our guests and for us as a restaurant, so we were devastated to discover an extractor fan failure in our kitchen at 9am on Christmas Day when running through our usual opening up safety checks.
“An engineer was on site within one hour, but the problem could not be solved without a replacement part, which was then couriered 90 miles to us, arriving in the afternoon and fitted immediately enabling the restaurant to be operationally ready by 6pm.
“As it became clear we would not be able to serve guests our team personally contacted the 78 parties who were booked to dine with us, who were offered a full refund and invited to book in with us for a complimentary three course meal and a round of drinks.
“We’re sorry to all guests who we have disappointed, but appreciate most customers were very understanding that we had to put safety first and that our team worked extremely hard to fix the problem. We were pleased to welcome all guests on Boxing Day as planned and look forward to welcoming guests across the rest of the celebration season.”
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