In case having to “sign in” every time you go to the pub – and having to show staff your phone to prove it – isn’t enough (as well as the chance that vaccine passports are required at your local in the near future), pubs in parts of England will now also force drinkers to wear face masks while sitting outside. The Telegraph has the story.
Pub drinkers in some parts of England will be forced to wear masks even when outside from Monday, thanks to even stricter rules for reopening drawn up by some overzealous councils.
Landlords have been told they must enforce mask-wearing by their customers when they are walking around beer gardens, despite national guidance that only requires face coverings indoors.
Councils have set up enforcement teams that will patrol pubs looking for rule-breakers, and landlords fear they could face fines if their customers are caught.
The Government’s guidance says drinkers must wear masks if going inside a pub to use the toilets or to pay at the bar.
One notice from Ribble Valley Borough Council told pubs in Lancashire that “face coverings must be worn by customers, except when seated to eat or drink”.
Stosie Madi, owner of the Parkers Arms pub near Clitheroe, contacted the council to ask if the notice was a “misprint” and whether her customers needed masks outdoors.
A council official told her face coverings must be worn in her beer garden unless her customers are eating and drinking. …
Another pub in Rochdale said it had received the same guidance from its local council.
It’s as if the authorities are trying to make the experience of going to the pub as unpleasant as possible to deliver the final nail in the coffin of the pub trade.
Worth reading in full.
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