ON ALERT FOR THE GRAND REOPENING
HOSPITALS AND POLICE READY AS PUBS AND RESTAURANTS PREPARE TO START SERVING AGAIN - AND HOW IT’S GOING TO WORK FOR THE CUSTOMERS
POLICE chiefs are planning a ‘significant’ operation across the region’s cities and towns as pubs reopen this weekend.
All pubs in England – with the exception of those in Leicester, where there’s a local lockdown – will be able to open their doors on Saturday in the latest easing of the coronavirus lockdown.
But Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has branded the government’s decision to reopen the pubs on a Saturday as ‘downright reckless.’
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling is hoping officers will not have to be deployed to break up trouble and he has urged people to behave sensibly.
The senior officer said Greater Manchester Police had been ‘challenged’ in recent weeks after several raves and large public gatherings were held across the region. But he insisted that the force was not ‘going soft’ on enforcing illegal open-air events while the focus shifts onto the reopening of pubs.
DCC Pilling told a press conference: “People are becoming more bored with the lockdown, the weather is getting warmer, the nightclubs are not opening, and festivals have been cancelled.
“I think people want to go out and generally have a good time so I think we’ll see that on Saturday.
“We’ve got a significant policing operation in place across all of our towns and cities across the pubs – and also to prevent all the raves from taking place again.”
It was also stressed that the police ‘could only respond to what has been put in front of them,’ with DCC Pilling urging the people of Greater Manchester to ‘come together.’
He added: “Particularly, I appeal to the public who are going to go out and about on Saturday night and enjoy those pubs that have been reopened. Please behave sensibly.
“What I’d like is to be sitting here next Monday morning looking back and seeing we had a really good reopening of the pubs without any disorder taking place.”
Mr Burnham, speaking at the same press conference, criticised the government for not sharing their pub reopening plan with local leaders.
He said: “I think it is downright reckless to allow pubs to reopen on a Saturday when the country has been in lockdown.”
Mr Burnham also claimed that he had been informed by Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester’s night time economy adviser, that some operators would not be opening on Saturday and would instead be taking a ‘cautious safety-first approach.’
“I think it’s right to do this carefully and over time,” added Mr Burnham.