Coronavirus: Pubs and bars to offer al fresco dining and takeaway pints under new legislation

Outlets will be able to convert car parks and terraces into temporary beer gardens

Pubs, bars and restaurants will be able to offer al fresco dining and takeaway pints under a new legislation aimed at helping reopen the hospitality sector.

Ministers will introduce a new bill in parliament on Thursday that will temporarily change strict licensing laws to allow people to buy alcohol from pubs and drink it in parks or on pavements to make it easier for people to social distance.

Under the new rules, licensed outlets will be able to convert their car parks and terraces into temporary beer gardens, and pubs will be able to set up tables and chairs on pavements to serve their customers.

Outdoor markets, car boot sales and summer fairs will not need to make planning applications under the shake-up of planning rules in the government’s new Business and Planning Bill.

It comes after Boris Johnson announced the most significant easing of lockdown measures yet, with pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers able to reopen their doors from 4 July.

The prime minister told MPs on Tuesday that social distancing guidance had been reduced from two metres to “one metre plus”, in a boost for firms who were concerned they would be unable to operate under the stricter rules.

A review by the government’s scientific advisers, led by No 10 permanent secretary Sir Simon Case, found there were “severe economic costs” to maintaining the two-metre rule, with only 30 per cent of the hospitality sector expected to be able to operate.

Some 60 to 75 per cent of businesses would be able to reopen with one-metre social distancing rules, the review found, quoting estimates by industry bodies.

Plans to relax Sunday trading laws to help the struggling retail sector get back on its feet appear to have been dropped from the bill after threats of a rebellion from Tory MPs.

A letter to the prime minister, signed by seven Conservative backbenchers, warned Mr Johnson that more than 50 MPs were opposed to plans to extend opening hours on Sundays.

David Cameron was thwarted by his own backbenchers when he attempted to introduce longer Sunday opening hours in 2016.