Wetherspoons confirms 394 pubs will open on 12 April

4 March 2021, 08:47 | Updated: 4 March 2021, 09:17

Wetherspoons will open their doors next month. Picture: PA

By Polly Foreman

Wetherspoons branches with outdoor seating will start welcoming customers next month.

JD Wetherspoons has confirmed that it will start welcoming customers again on 12 April in accordance with government guidelines.

In line with Boris Johnson's roadmap for England, pubs will be allowed to open on that date with customers sat outside.

The pub giant will open 394 branches in England, which all have outdoor seating areas including beer gardens, rooftop gardens and patios.

All pubs in England are currently closed in line with lockdown rules. Picture: PA

Chief executive John Hutson said, according to the Mirror: "We are looking forward to welcoming our customers and staff back to our pubs."

The branches will be open from 9am to 9pm from Sunday to Thursday and 9am to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, although some will have restrictions on closing times.

A slightly reduced menu will be on offer at the pubs, but food will be available from 9am to 8pm seven days a week.

Customers will be able to use the Wetherspoons app to order food, with table service in operation at the branches.

Wetherspoons will start welcoming customers outside from 12 April. Picture: PA

Visitors to the pubs will be able to enter the pub to use the loo and gain access to outside, but there will be no indoor seating until the next lockdown-easing phase, due to start on May 17.

From that date, it is planned that the 'rule of six' will apply to those sat inside pubs, bars and restaurants.

Pubs and restaurants to open from 12 April outside

Nothing is set in stone, however, and Boris Johnson said that lockdown easing will be driven by 'data not dates' and depend on the following conditions being met:

The vaccine deployment continuing successfully
There is evidence that the vaccine is effective in reducing deaths
There isn't a surge in hospitalisation
Assessment of risks are not fundamentally changed by new variants of Covid that cause concern

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