Westminster was aghast when initially it appeared as if this new lockdown would forbid pubs acting as takeaways as they did in the summer months before the great reopening on July 4. Yet the wording of the new lockdown legislation, published this afternoon, appears to offer a loophole in the Government’s intention to forbid takeaway pints.
Establishments will be able to legally sell alcohol to take away after all, if it’s preordered by phone, web or post, and provided that the purchaser does not enter the premises to collect it. As luck would have it, most pubs have got round to using app-ordering over the last six months. Cheers!
Arguably you could stand outside the pub, order and pay via app, the barman could bring the pints outside, when he leaves the pints at a social distance and returns inside, you could fetch them and consume them safely and legally. One for bar-room lawyers to ponder…
