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SIT HERE FOR THE BEER
Pub says it has found a safe way to reopen after coronavirus – and The Sun was there for a pint
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A PUB says it has found a safe way to reopen — and The Sun was there to sample its first pint.
Tables two metres apart are separated by Perspex screens and gel dispensers scattered throughout The Betsey Wynne.
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Boozers browse disposable menus and order via a phone app.
They enter and leave via a carefully monitored one-way system, while a large beer garden allows easy social distancing.
The scheme has the backing of a government adviser and brewery bosses say the measures can be up and running within three weeks of getting the go-ahead.
'WE CAN RUN A PUB SAFELY'
Peter Borg-Neal, CEO of Oakman Inns which owns the pub in Swanbourne, Bucks, said: “We can run a pub safely with all the conditions of social distancing met.
“The country is desperate for a proper pint in the pub and we are asking the Government to treat us like grown-ups and let us open.
“We strongly believe in this idea and are presenting it to the Cabinet Office via our trade body, UK Hospitality.
“We want it to be given careful consideration.”
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Numbers would be limited to around 250 but The Betsey Wynne has a large indoor space and massive beer garden.
Ministers have been warned that 40 per cent of pubs and 320,000 staff face the axe unless the Government steps in to save the industry.
Mr Borg-Neal added: “We need to get the economy going again.
“If not, pubs will close and thousands will lose their jobs.
If it is a sunny weekend and the pub has a garden and the landlords are prepared to accept responsibility for not overcrowding it, I see no particular reason why it should not reopen
Government adviser Professor Robert Dingwall
“If you can operate safely and show that you can then there is no reason why pubs shouldn’t be allowed to do so.
“I can get on a Tube train with a load of strangers but I can’t go and have a pint in the pub with a mate. Where is the logic?”
Government adviser Professor Robert Dingwall said: “If it is a sunny weekend and the pub has a garden and the landlords are prepared to accept responsibility for not overcrowding it, I see no particular reason why it should not reopen.”
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Mr Borg-Neal added: “When we closed in March, I had to return 20 barrels from The Betsey to the brewery — that's almost 2,000 pints.
“We’d need three weeks’ notice to get in deliveries so even if we got the all-clear on Monday we wouldn’t open until next month.
“The Government needs to crack on and get pubs open as quickly as possible. Everyone is desperate for a pint and what is more traditionally British then a drink in your local.”
MEANWHILE... THEY'RE DOWNING 'EM DOWN UNDER
IT was a G’Day in Australia yesterday as some pubs opened after two months’ lockdown.
Drinkers in Darwin, above, downed beers but bars in some other regions remain shut.
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