Coronavirus: Pubs, bars and restaurants shut down across UK

Drinkers grab ‘one last pint’ before indefinite ban begins

Tens of thousands of pubs, bars, theatres and restaurants across the UK shut their doors overnight after Boris Johnson imposed a nationwide lockdown.

The prime minister announced the closure on Friday as he warned the public they were risking lives by ignoring advice to reduce unnecessary social gatherings and slow the spread of coronavirus.

Many bars and nightclubs – not to mention betting shops, gyms and cinemas – were already almost deserted as drinkers voluntarily stayed at home.

However some people were determined to get “one last pint” before last orders at midnight, while others flouted guidelines on social distancing by seizing the chance for a final Friday night dance.

“My last shift in a pub where all the locals conglomerated for one last pint making it the busiest night we’ve had in the last week,” commented one London bar worker on social media. “Lost my job and might catch the virus.”

Mr Johnson had appealed for the country to take the ban seriously “to protect the NHS and save lives” but promised to review the measures “each month”

“I do accept that what we’re doing is extraordinary – we’re taking away the ancient inalienable right of freeborn people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub,” he said.

“And I can understand how people feel about that. But I say to people who do go against the advice that we’re getting, the very clear advice that we’re getting from our medical and scientific experts, you know you’re not only putting your own life, the lives of your family, at risk – you’re endangering the community.”

Police forces have indicated that they could seek to revoke licenses allowing pubs, bars and clubs to sell alcohol or play music if a venue fails to comply with the lockdown.

Meanwhile the hospitality sector welcomed the announcement from chancellor Rishi Sunak that the government would pay 80 per cent of wages for staff unable to work during the crisis, as the UK death toll from Covid-19 rose to 177 and the number of confirmed cases increased to 3,983.

Emma McClarkin, the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “As a sector employing nearly one million people, the chancellor’s support package announced today on staff wages will safeguard thousands of livelihoods and help closed pubs try to get through this difficult period.”

Additional reporting by Press Association