Andy's 15-week wait to serve his new pub's first pint

All that will change at noon on Saturday when he opens the doors of the Pleasant Retreat in Lostock Hall for the first time to customers.

Andy, 34, took over the main street hostelry on the same day in March that Prime Minister Boris Johnson called time on Britain’s pubs for Covid-19.

Since then he has been kicking his heels waiting for a chance to serve a few drinks and get to know his new clientele.

“Talk about bad timing,” said Andy, who has previously run pubs in Wales and Stockport.

“I couldn’t believe it when we were ordered to close before we’d even had a chance to open. We didn’t know it was coming on that day. It just hit us out of the blue.”

Andy is one of hundreds of licensees across Lancashire who will be in the starting blocks come Saturday lunchtime ready to begin serving again.

The lifting of restrictions on the pub and restaurant trade mean venues can re-open, but only if they obey strict safety guidelines to protect both staff and customers.

Andy has spent the past 15 weeks deep cleaning his new alehouse ready to welcome drinkers back in. And he says customers will find pub-going a whole new experience.

“The Government says people have to make advance bookings, they can’t just walk in off the street,” he explained.

“You have to ring up and book a table and that is going to be a nightmare. If people book in at 12 o’clock, what do we do after that?

"We don’t know how long people will stay and when tables will be free. They might stay all afternoon, or just half an hour.

“I’ve run pubs all my working life and I was brought up in pubs because my mum and dad were in the trade. But this is going to be very, very strange.

“We’ve done lots of work since we took over the Pleasant Retreat to make sure it is ready to re-open. But it is going to look different.

“We will have a one-way system in place through the pub. Social distancing will be enforced. And there will be hand sanitising stations at the entrance and the exit.

“To be perfectly honest I don’t think it’s going to be as nice an experience as it normally is in pubs.

“I think people will come in at the weekend for a nosy, to see what it’s like. After that, who knows?

“But it has to be like this because we have to keep people safe. That is our top priority.”

Safety first will be the motto throughout the licensed trade as pubs, bars and restaurants open their doors again after losing more than 100 days to the virus.

Venues which flout the rules face being closed down as the authorities keep a close eye on how they are being run.

Police are urging people to “be calm and be sensible” when they are free to return to pubs and bars as lockdown is relaxed.

Pubs and bars will a totally different experience for customers when they re-open on what is being called Super Saturday.

Keeping drinkers and staff safe will be top priority, even though the new restrictions could have a marked effect on how we enjoy ourselves.

To get in you will need to book a table in advance. And there will be waiter service, contactless payment, no loud music, no TV football in some pubs, hand sanitising stations in all premises and staff will be wearing face visors.