The Little Venice Group has started letting staff go after Mickey's beachside restaurant at Elbow Beach was destroyed and Lido could be demolished.

Foreign seasonal staff - those who are here for six months - are choosing to go home already, said a Little Venice Group representative yesterday.

Some staff are choosing long vacations until the damage is assessed while expat staff on work permits who want to look for other work will be given letters of release.

When the company, which owns eight restaurants across the island employing 300 people, has assessed the damage, Bermudians, spouses of Bermudians or long-term residents will be given first choice of work.

The company invested $5 million in Mickey's, which has washed away, Lido (which may need to be flattened) Sea Breeze cafe and Deep night club at Elbow Beach.

The property is leased from Elbow Beach and the cost of any restoration will probably be met jointly by both companies, said the Little Venice Group representative.

Other restaurants are trying to avoid staff cuts. Phil Barnett, the chair of the restaurant and nightclub division of the Chamber of Commerce, said he had no plans to lay off staff at his premises - the Pickled Onion, Hog Penny, and Barracuda Grill - but he did not know what was happening in other restaurants.

Aqua restaurant at Ariel Sands re-opens for business on Friday after losing electricity, the beachside bar and damage to kitchens.

Owner Claudio Vigilante yesterday extended his sympathy to staff at Mickey's and Lido. "Although we were lucky to escape major damage, we feel very sad at what happened to them. It is a tragedy and could have been any of us. Although we compete against one another, we are all friends and we feel for them. It is very sad."