Restaurant’s drive-thru does not pass Covid test

A BIRMINGHAM restaurant has been banned from offering a posh drive-thru where customers get to eat meals in a car park as it does “not fall within Covid guidelines”.

Varanasi in Broad Street said it was launching the new ‘in-car dining experience’ delivering three-course meals (above) to waiting customers to eat inside their vehicles behind the high-end Indian eatery.

The restaurant were selling it as a ‘business class’ dining experience.

But the owners were contacted by police – warning them it was going “against coronavirus regulations”.

General manager Abdul Wahab said West Midlands Police licensing team told tell them they could not go ahead.

Mr Wahab said he was “disappointed” by the ban and has been consulting with his solicitors.

He told us: “There is a grey area on what we’re trying to do – there is nothing in law saying eating in your car is against the rules, but we are not allowed to encourage people to go out over lockdown.

“We have been told we could potentially lose our licence by putting people in danger, even though our customers would be in their own bubbles in their cars.”

Mr Wahab added: “No one is stopping people from eating their drive-through meal in a McDonald’s car park so why stop us?

“If you went to McDonald’s now you would see people eating in the car park. We are just offering an upmarket version of what fast food restaurants do.”

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: “Our licensing team, who work in conjunction with the local authority, have contacted Varanasi and advised them to amend their drive-through meal plans in order to comply with the current coronavirus regulations.”