Will forcing pubs to shut at 10pm really cut the Covid infection rates?
IT WOULDN’T surprise me if the decision to close bars at 10pm was drawn up on the back of a cigarette packet. Does the coronavirus begin creeping out after 10 o’clock? The hospitality industry has struggled enough through the lockdown and some places are just finding their feet again, only for this to push back their progress.
Mark S BradShaw, Billingham, Co. durham.
It’s all very well for Boris to get pubs and restaurants to close an hour earlier, but does he not realise that people will therefore go out an hour earlier! Many years ago my late father ran a pub when the sunday licensing hours were changed to allow pubs to stay open for an extra halfhour until 10.30pm. What happened? Everyone came in half an hour later! this will solve nothing! Stephen tong,
pudsey, Leeds.
A SOLUTION to the matter of licensed premises opening/ closing hours in the current half-hearted lockdown would be a return to the old permitted hours. Pub opening hours were 10.30 to 14.00. Then a break, reopening 17.00 to 22.30 (23.00 on Saturdays).
Sundays were 12.00 to 14.00 and 19.00 to 22.30. Problem solved.
J.A. FOLEY, Devon. I DON’T think it’s unreasonable for pubs to be told to close at 10pm to lower the risk of Covid infections. The old hours enabled people to get home by public transport and have a decent night’s sleep. The drinking-to-all-hours culture, brought in by Blair and Brown, causes a lot of drunkenness, fights and hard work for the police and A&E.
NAME SUPPLIED, Ruislip, Middx.
I’VE just come home from town, kicked out of the pub at 10pm prompt. The town was packed — mad dash for food, buses and taxis of hundreds of people. The last government that put restrictions on drinking times was during World War I. These stupid laws lasted over 70 years. Now the rules are even more severe, 10pm curfew. We voted for Boris to get Brexit done. Well, Boris, once you’ve done that, please resign and let’s get back to common sense and reason. Unnecessary redundancies, family breakdowns and loads of other avoidable catastrophic illnesses and diseases for something that kills such a tiny percentage of our population is just not worth it.
JOHN GLASPER, Address supplied.
SOMETHING needs to be done. We had a nice meal out in Devon where everyone wore masks going through the pub etc. By the end of the evening that was totally forgotten with loudly happy drinkers pushing past diners to get to the loos, no masks etc.
NAME SUPPLIED, Bude, Cornwall.
WE ARE a popular town centre pub with a 2am licence which we use every night. We don’t get busy until 10pm, serving late and shift workers amongst others. My wife and I have been at Finns for over 20 years and have worked hard to create the business we are proud of. As it stands, we are losing 4½ hours a day of our optimum trading time and this will be devastating. Not only is Finns our livelihood but our home. The licensed trade has been hit very hard over the last few years and unless something is done we feel this may be the final nail in our coffin.