BEER GARDENS OPEN AS BORIS HAS QUICK TRIM
PLUCKY punters shrugged off blizzards to sup their first pints in months in chilly beer gardens yesterday.
As pubs, shops and hairdressers re-opened, 300 hardy revellers ignored -3C temperatures to sample an ale at the first pub to throw open its doors at 12.01am.
Hordes were turned away as The Oak Inn in Coventry reached capacity in 30 minutes.
The beer garden only opened until 5.30am but took 50% more cash than on a normal night.
Student Misha Bennett, 19, one of the first to get a drink, said: “It felt like I had been waiting forever for this moment to come. Never has a few beers with friends been such a joy as this.’’
Other determined drinkers sat supping outside in snowstorms as 1.5inches fell in some parts. Student nurse Lily Smith, 21, celebrated outside The Showtime pub in Huddersfield, West Yorks. “It’s an amazing feeling,’’ she said. Historian Chris Marsden said: “It feels like New Year’s Eve! It’s cold, we’ve had snow in Huddersfield and the evening had that wonderful feeling of expectation about it.” Young Tom Phillips, of Redcar, North Yorks, visited the Ironstone Miner in Guisborough for his first-ever breakfast beer with pals, after turning 18 in lockdown. He said: “It had to be done.’’ Midnight was also the signal for staff from the Secret Spa in Balham, south London, to swoop Swat-style on excited clients waiting to be pampered.
Boris Johnson had been to his barber for a trim, left. The PM said the day was a “major step towards freedom”, while urging people to “behave responsibly”.
But the excitement proved too much for some shoppers seen fighting at JD Sports in Oxford Street, London, and police attended a Manchester Arndale tussle.