SUPPING LONDON Boozers’ joy as they neck
THE nation toasted Super Saturday yesterday as all pubs were allowed to serve pints on the premises for the first time in 105 days.
Grinning pals queued from 6am as watering holes across England threw open their doors after a 15-week lockdown.
The £210million drinking spree, £60 million more than a typical weekend before the shutdown on March 20, was just the start of the nationwide revelry.
Experts say 15 million pints were supped yesterday, the same kind of spike seen when England play a World Cup.
It was also the first chance to get a haircut, go to the flicks, visit a theme park, enjoy a meal in a restaurant or stay at a hotel.
But hopes of a lucrative reopening by some pub landlords were hit by wind and rain.
And last night there were health fears as young customers appeared to be ignoring social distancing.
On BLACKPOOL’S Golden Mile at Shenanigans Bar, landlady Lisa Schofield welcomed old regulars but said hen and stag do’s were barred for safety reasons.
In NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, lorry driver Justin Evans, 42, said:
“My son has just passed his assessment to join the Army. It’s fantastic that we have been able to come out and celebrate.”
At the Shropshire Arms, CHESTER, Bert Lockley said: “I’ve missed this more than my missus when she left. You can drink at home but you can’t get this feeling anywhere else.” Young customers appeared to squeeze together in
LONDON’S Borough Market in breach of the new one metre-plus distance guideline.
But also in the capital, there was no problem with spaced-out tables at the huge Terrace Bar at Alexandra Palace. And one of Britain’s smallest pubs, the Circus Tavern in
MANCHESTER, stopped crowding with perspex screens – as one customer proved by squashing his face against the surface.
In Harborne,
BIRMINGHAM, Hop Garden owner Brendon Daly was already fully booked with 168 punters