Tens of thousands of pubs will not be able to reopen if customers and staff have to stay two metres apart, industry chiefs warn.
It is claimed that 80% of boozers will remain shut if the government does not loosen guidelines on safe social distances to prevent coronavirus spreading.
Landlords believe that they don't have enough space for this to be possible. At the moment Britain and Spain are the only countries in Europe which maintain that people should remain two metres apart.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a distance of three feet, or one metre. If this is adopted, the pub trade says, thousands of businesses will be able to operate when the lockdown is lifted.