BINGO'S BACK!

Livingston’s Carlton Bingo Hall was hoping for a full house this week after it was finally allowed to open after months in lockdown.

West Lothian joined most of the rest of Scotland on Monday in moving down to Level 2, allowing up to six people from three households to socialise indoors in a private home or garden without physical distancing.

Pubs and hospitality venues can now welcome customers indoors, while cinemas and libraries are also getting back to business as usual.

General manager of Carlton Bingo, Lauren Wallbanks, said:“Our employees have had to endure the last year on furlough while, for many of our customers, bingo is a lifeline for them — especially the more elderly customers who have had to endure the last year being apart from family as well as their friends at the bingo.”

West Lothian’s oldest live music club say they are desperate for clarification so they can open in the coming weeks.

The Dreadnought venue at King Street in Bathgate has only been open for 10 weeks throughout the last year and is desperate to get back to running live shows again.

The rock club was aiming to open its doors again on May 17, along with other hospitality venues, but the operations manager at the Dreadnought, Alan Russell, says nightclub guidance has not been updated since last year and a June opening is more likely.

Alan says it is the current social distancing rules make it impossible to open up in May. Speaking to The Courier, he explained: “Unfortunately the guidance that was published last September has not been updated since.

“So, without that important information and guidance it is pretty impossible for us to guess what would be required to go ahead with an event.

“We have a rough idea based on what was published but there is a raging discussion going on about this one metre or twometre social distancing.

“It’s not about numbers. We set our stall up like the pubs did last year so that most of the tables would be two -metre distancing.

“We went with that but it becomes critical with mixed households.

“At a pub, people from different households can sit in a bar two metres apart but not at a gig.

“That is the complication and we are liaising with the Scottish Government