THEY DRINK.. IT’S ALL OVER
UK pubs finally open for punters
THIRSTY Brits face a tough choice today... hit the pub or go to the barbers. How about have a drink first, followed by hair of the dog tomorrow?
BRITS are set to toast the re-opening of pubs today with a 45millionpint booze bender.
That is how much ale is sitting in cellars waiting to quench the thirst of desperate drinkers who have been locked out of their locals for the past four months.
Up to 15,000 boozers will open today for the first time since before Christmas.
Many landlords have built outdoor bars and beer gardens so they can resume trade as lockdown eases – and say they are booked up for months.
Emma Mcclarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said landlords have invested £500m to make venues safe during the pandemic.
She added: “It has been a long hard year for people in the sector. Some are hanging on by fingertips. We welcome the great news that our pubs can reopen once more for outdoor service. That first pint back in the beer garden is going to be a special moment.
“People across the country have been looking forward to it for months.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I’m sure it will be a huge relief for those business owners who have been closed for so long, and for everyone else it’s a chance to get back to doing some of the things we love and have missed.”
Relaunch
But he warned: “I urge everyone to continue to behave responsibly. Remember ‘hands, face, space and fresh air’ to suppress Covid as we push on with our vaccination programme.”
Jackie Fairburn of The Hare & Hounds in West Ardsley, West Yorks, said: “We are all systems go. I just can’t wait to open. It’s been so long.
“This relaunch is like starting a new business all over again. But actually this is a much bigger deal – it has to work.’’
Jackie has transformed her pub by using scaffolding planks to build a replica of the bar in the garden.
The Prince of Peckham in South London has recruited “quite a lot of new staff” to deal with the expected rush today, according to events manager
Rohie Njie.
But he fears some of the younger clientele might get carried away, adding: “People haven’t been out for so long, some of them are going to forget their limits.
“I just hope it stays safe. But I do think people will go a lot crazier than normal.’’
Betting shops in England and Wales will also open tomorrow. There will be no live sports footage, no chairs and a maximum of two gaming machines allowed to be switched on, while customers will be limited to a maximum of two visits per day and shops will close at 8pm.
The number of customers allowed in a shop will depend on its size, up to a maximum of eight, and there will also be a limit on the time they are able to stay in a shop.
AFTER five long months, the wait is finally over.
From today, we can get back to our beloved pubs.
And this time there’s not even a whiff of a scotch egg or an early curfew about.
What a blessed relief.
This marks the start of what promises to be a brilliant British summer.
One where we can blow the cobwebs off of a year we all wish to forget.
The majority have been so good at following the rules during this traumatic time.
And yes, we still need to be careful like we have done throughout.
No-one wants a repeat of the last few months.
But this is the time to reap the rewards of all our hard work.
Plus, landlords have bent over backwards to get their boozers ready for this much-anticipated day.
The least we can do is grace them with our presence!