New mask rules in pubs will be 'impossible' to police: Landlords blast latest Covid measure that visitors must cover face unless they're eating or drinking - as hospitality bosses say move will kill off sector

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Pub bosses and punters grappling with new coronavirus rules which make masks compulsory have warned Boris Johnson that enforcement will be tough.   

The Prime Minister today tightened restrictions on the hospitality sector for six months by imposing a 10pm curfew across England from Thursday and limiting business solely to table service.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he also said face coverings will be mandatory for all staff and customers unless they are seated.

The raft of measures was met with an instant backlash from the pub trade which said the 'devastating' curbs would torpedo sales and sink some firms.  

Greg Mulholland, campaign director for the Campaign for Pubs, said: 'It seems questionable asking people to wear face masks yet not at the table, and there is a fear that the need to have a mask will put people off going to pubs which could see levels of trade drop even further.'

Calling on the Government to provide financial support for pubs, he added: 'The confirmation of a curfew of 10pm and other restrictions for up to six months is devastating for many pubs and publicans. 

'As it is, most pubs were only getting back on their feet and many were not yet trading profitably and this latest news will make it impossible for some publicans to carry on.'  

Jake Laing, 30, who manages a pub in Notting Hill, told MailOnline: 'The movement of people around the pub with a facemask will be difficult to police.'

Stressing that he will enforce the rules, he added: 'It's the same as track and trace. If they don't want to do it this isn't the place for them. Obviously it will be a challenge but we have to do it if we're going to be open.'  

Public Health England data reveals that of the 729 outbreaks in the week to September 13, only five per cent occurred in food outlets such as restaurants and pubs

Drinkers at a bar in Covent Garden, London, this afternoon as pubs and restaurants face tighter restrictions on their service

The PM has imposed a 10pm curfew on all restaurants, bars and pubs across England from Thursday with the hospitality sector also being restricted to table service only

The Prime Minister this afternoon announced a tightening of restrictions for pubs and restaurants which will last six months

Speaking to MPs, the PM said: 'From Thursday all pubs, bars and restaurants must operate table-service only, Mr Speaker, except for takeaways.

'Together with all hospitality venues, they must close at 10pm.

'To help the police to enforce this rule, I am afraid that means alas closing, and not just calling for last orders. Simplicity is paramount.

'The same will apply to takeaways - though deliveries can continue thereafter.

'I am sorry this will hurt many businesses just getting back on their feet, but we must act to stop the virus from being transmitted in bars and restaurants.'

But punters are already picking apart the flaws in the curfew and said it will be tough to enforce.

Max Thestlethwaite, 32, from Shepherd's Bush, was enjoying a drink with his girlfriend Christina Diaz, 43, outside the Builder's Arms in Kensington in the wake of the PM's announcement.

He told MailOnline: 'We are avid pub-goers, but my view around the new rules is what difference is it going to make if people are out by 10pm or 11pm?

'Imagine Friday night in Soho at 9.30. How's that going to be different to 10.30? And trying to clear the pub at 9.30 when everyone's drinking...'

Pub manager Mr Laing said: 'It puts more pressure on the business. It feels like we're taking steps back but we will overcome it. 

'When people have had a few drinks it will become a problem to police.'

Mr Thestlethwaite added compulsory facemask-wearing will be impossible to enforce for pub staff.

He said: 'I just don't think it's really enforceable... They'll have to spend half the time enforcing the rules.' 

But Michela Rosi, assistant manager at the Churchill Arms in Notting Hill, said people will have to get to grips with the system quickly as she will be clamping down.

She told MailOnline: 'It's just something that people need to get used to, they'll just have to take the mask off when they get the drinks, and put them back on if they go go the toilet or something.'

The Churchill Arms often sees people standing outside on the street drinking, but the new rules restricting business to table service will ban this and will '100 per cent' be a blow for the pub.

Fondly recalling the days when punters came to the bar, supervisor Roxi Aulsberry said: 'The main part of this job I love is the banter, but they just have to have it at the tables. There's pros and cons with everything, we just have to take the good out of it.'

Announcing the facemask rule in the Commons, the PM said: 'We will extend the requirement to wear face coverings to include staff in retail, all users of taxis and private hire vehicles, and staff and customers in indoor hospitality, except when seated at a table to eat or drink.'

The measures are being brought in to wrestle down the spread of the virus after the government's top two scientists, professors Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, warned of 50,000 daily cases by mid-October. 

Jake Laing, 30, who manages a pub in Notting Hill, told MailOnline: 'The movement of people around the pub with a face mask will be difficult to police'

Michela Rosi, assistant manager at the Churchill Arms in Notting Hill, said people will have to get to grips with the system quickly as she will be clamping down

Max Thestlethwaite, 32, from Shepherd's Bush, was enjoying a drink with his girlfriend Christina Diaz, 43, outside the Builder's Arms in Kensington in the wake of the PM's announcement. He told MailOnline: 'We are avid pub-goers, but my view around the new rules is what difference is it going to make if people are out by 10pm or 11pm?'

Exasperated hospitality bosses are fuming that they are bearing the brunt of Mr Johnson's coronavirus crackdown when Government figures show a comparably low spread of the disease in food and drink outlets.

Public Health England data reveals that of the 729 outbreaks in the week to September 13, only five per cent occurred in food outlets such as restaurants and pubs - 45 per cent were in care homes, 21 per cent in schools and 18 per cent in places of work.

Wetherspoons founder Tim Martin said: 'The curfew doesn't even stand up to five minutes consideration by an intelligent person because if you look at the stats... there are relatively few transfers of infections in pubs.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UK Hospitality, urged the Government to heed its own statistics because the curfew could take a sledgehammer to the industry which is already 'on its knees'.

She said this morning: 'People will think it's not that significant, but it really will have a big economic impact on jobs, not just on pubs, but also for cafes and restaurants.'   

Martin Wolstencroft, head of Arch Inspirations, which runs 17 bars and restaurants in Leeds, Manchester, York and Newcastle, said the curfew will not make it viable to open some of his venues.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The 10pm curfew will be absolutely devastating for our business. It's just such disastrous news. We've worked so hard after lockdown to build up our business after 12 weeks, to build up the confidence of our teams and our customers.

'We've done really well in Eat Out to Help Out to get ourselves moving again. So to hear this news this week, it's so frustrating. We may as well not open some of our bars. 

'After 10pm is really when we start making money because that's when we get busier and it won't cover our costs during the day. 

'It's just really frustrating, we don't know how long it's going to be for or what happens next. It's going to be the final nail in the coffin for many many operators. It's just disastrous news.'  

Ms Nicholls said ministers urgently need to clarify whether the 10pm curfew is when trading must cease or whether it is when pubs must shut - which would restrict most outlets to just one sitting. 

Ms Nicholls told the BBC: 'It depends how the government frames this. If they draft it as cease trading at 10pm, the impact will be lessened, but if as in the North East and North West, where you have to clear the premises and empty the premises and have it closed up by 10pm, that will have a significant economic impact. 

'In effect it reduces revenue by 50 per cent because you need to call last orders for food by 9pm, so you can get everyone out of the door, so you can only have one sitting. 

'And with pubs now fully seated and table service, the same applies to pubs. Although it's a small change, it will wipe out the shift of jobs at the end of the evening.'  

The pub trade (Soho pictured) has reacted furiously that they will bear the brunt of the Government's crackdown and point to Public Health England figures that illustrate a low spread of Covid-19 in hospitality settings

Soho was bustling last night as drinkers went to pubs and restaurants before the Government ushers in a 10pm curfew

Wetherpoons' Mr Martin suggested the measures will not help tackle the virus. He told Talk Radio: 'What does a curfew do?

'It says everyone has to go at 10pm, so that doesn't mean you can't get a virus. Many of us have been 18, 19, 20 in the past. So what are you going to do at 10pm? Go home to Mum?'

Meanwhile Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, warned the current rules are 'nonsense' and 'absurd'.

He told MailOnline: 'In terms of the enforcement, for us it's really difficult. I mean I'm not a massive fan of Nicola Sturgeon but at least she's calling the shots correctly.

'If someone snitches and says Mr Big has got 20 people in his house, then what are we going to do? Sit outside his house all evening and wait for people to come out and count them or something?

'That's one address. We're talking about millions of addresses. It's just a nonsense. It's absolutely absurd. Why can't they put in place what is in Scotland I have no idea.

'Why? Why is ours six, but Scotland's is no one? It's not right and it just makes it so difficult for my colleagues to enforce when you can make it so crystal clear so it's not ambiguous, there's no way around it, these are the rules, adhere to them.'

He added: 'But you know when you've got the Home Secretary saying snitch on your neighbours, well good luck with that one Priti Patel. How are we supposed to enforce that?'

National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales John Apter added: 'More funding for policing this pandemic is much needed.

'The service needs all the help it can get, as financial pressures on Forces are increasing day-by-day - but today's announcement lacked any detail. We will wait for that before we celebrate too much.

'Since the start of this pandemic police and military have been working together on logistics.

'This has and continues to work well; but the announcement from the Prime Minister has been seized by some as a suggestion that the military will be on streets helping the police to enforce Covid regulations. This is not what policing has asked for and not what it needs.'

Mr Apter added: 'This is an ever-changing situation and police officers will continue to do an incredible job at adapting quickly.

'The vast majority of the public complied with the restrictions placed on them. These restrictions affect us all, but this is about keeping each other as safe as possible.

'I would hope the public will carry on doing the right thing to help protect fellow citizens to minimise the spread of the virus.'

Mr Johnson is also under mounting pressure from his backbenches to avoid imposing measures that will throttle the economic recovery.

Senior Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin said the 10pm curfew will be a 'terrible blow' to landlords. 

He told the BBC: 'The people running pubs, owning pubs, these people are in terrible strain.

'And the life line of the bounce back loans and the grants has kept these people, just about, their heads above water, and this will be a terrible blow to them.'

The pandemic has already taken a toll on the hospitality sector, which has suffered a rout on jobs as footfall nosedived and venues were forced to shutter. 

Wetherspoons said it had written to its 1,000 airport staff to warn them that between 400 and 450 of their jobs are at risk of redundancy.

John Hutson, the company's chief executive, said: 'The decision is mainly a result of a downturn in trade in these pubs, linked with the large reduction in passenger numbers using the airports.

'We should emphasise that no firm decisions have been made at this stage,' he added, saying that Wetherspoon will listen to its staff to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies.

The job cuts will take place at Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.

Less than two months ago the company announced that it was planning to make between 110 to 130 head office workers redundant.

'Wetherspoon is proposing to collectively consult with employees through an employment representative committee, which will be established for this purpose,' Mr Hutson added.  

Premier Inn owner Whitbread this morning warned it could axe up to 6,000 jobs as the coronavirus crisis continues to hit demand for hotel stays. 

The hospitality company also owns Brewers Fayre, Beefeater and Table Table restaurants, while operating around 800 Premier Inns across the country.  

Chief executive Alison Brittain said in a statement: 'With demand for travel remaining subdued, we are now having to make some very difficult decisions, and it is with great regret that today we are announcing our intention to enter into a consultation process that could result in up to 6,000 redundancies in the UK.'

The London-listed leisure firm said that it expected a 'significant proportion' of the redundancies would be on a voluntary basis.

Sir Patrick Vallance yesterday warned the UK could face 50,000 new coronavirus cases by mid-October if the spread of the disease is not curtailed. He is pictured alongside Professor Chris Whitty in Downing Street this morning 

Emma McClarkin of the British Beer and Pub Association, which represents 20,000 pubs, called on the Government to 'safeguard' brewing and pub jobs by putting a sector-specific furlough scheme in place beyond October and extending the VAT cut and business rates holiday. 

Some 140 pubs have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister warning of 'thousands of job cuts' if there is a second lockdown.

The Campaign for Pubs, which represents publicans, wrote: 'Already many publicans are facing serious anxiety about the situation and current levels of trade. 

'Be in no doubt, many pubs are already on the edge and could not survive any further restrictions to trade.' 

Thousands of jobs have been lost across Britain as the financial impact of Covid-19 continues to hit the economy. 

Data released this month shows more than 300,000 jobs were put at risk of redundancy in June and July - nearly seven times higher than last year's levels. 

Restaurant and hotel chains have been hit hard during the pandemic, after many were forced to close during the first months of the coronavirus lockdown.

Costa Coffee, which was sold by Whitbread last year, has said 1,650 staff are at risk of redundancy as it looks to cut costs.

Coffee and sandwich chain Pret a Manger confirmed it has axed 2,800 roles from its shops, while Pizza Express plans to permanently shut 73 of its restaurants, putting 1,100 jobs at risk.

On September 9, Lloyds Bank announced it was cutting 865 jobs, just days after the Cooperative Bank revealed it was to axe around 350 jobs from up and down the country and close 18 branches.

Last month Natwest Group announced it too was cutting 550 jobs in branches across the UK and closing one of its remaining offices in London.