Pubgoers in England face first night of 10pm curfew under new coronavirus measures

Luke O'Reilly25 September 2020

Pubgoers piled out onto the streets of Britain as the new 10pm coronavirus curfew came into effect on Thursday night.

Under the new regulations certain businesses like restaurants and pubs must close between 10pm and 5am.

This also applies to places like social clubs, casinos, bowling alleys, bingo halls, amusement arcades and other indoor leisure facilities.

When they are open they must serve customers at their tables.

Punters were pictured finishing their drinks on the streets of Soho after the bars had shut for the night on Thursday.

It comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his latest economic support package .

Drinkers finish their beverages
PA

However, Hospitality firms hit hard by the pandemic said their hopes were “crushed” and the measures “don’t go far enough”.

The chief of pub giant Young’s, Patrick Dardis, was among leaders to criticise the new measures, saying they will “not stop businesses from laying off staff”.

People leave a Wetherspoons pub in Brighton
PA

Bosses said that greater support is still needed to aid the recovery of pubs, bars, restaurants and other businesses, although trade groups hailed Mr Sunak’s decision to extend VAT cuts.

Police patrol the streets of Soho
AFP via Getty Images

He announced plans to extend a current 15% cut on VAT for hospitality and tourism firms from January until the end of March.

Pubgoers enjoyed the early autumnal weather as they drank at tables outside in Soho
AFP via Getty Images

Mr Sunak said the extension would add around £800 million to the existing £2.5 billion cost of the measure.

The move, which maintains a VAT of 5% on food, non-alcoholic drinks and accommodation, was welcomed by industry leaders.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in