Super Saturday revellers 'clearly unable to stick to social distancing rules' as hundreds of thousands hit the pub amid packed scenes in Soho

Jason Collie5 July 2020

Drunk people are unable keep the proper social distance, a senior police officer has declared, after hundreds of thousands flocked to reopened pubs across England.

There were scenes of celebration yesterday as the country ended three months of coronavirus lockdown, on what had been dubbed "Super Saturday".

But concerns grew as large crowds of revellers were seen clearly not sticking to the one-metre plus social distancing rule.

In central London, streets in Soho was thronged with people well into the early hours of Sunday, as drinkers let their (newly trimmed) hair down.

Super Saturday - in pictures

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One social media user described the scenes as a "petri dish" for coronavirus.

Rafal Liszewski, a store manager at Clonezone on Old Compton Street, described crowds in the area as “out of control”.

“Saturday started very easy. But you could feel tension in the air,” the 36-year-old told the PA news agency.

Revellers in Soho
REUTERS

“Around 1pm crowds started to arrive… quickly everything got out of control and by 8-9 pm it was a proper street party with people dancing and drinking.

“Barely anyone was wearing masks and nobody respected social distancing… to be honest with that many people on one street it was physically impossible.”

Mr Liszewski, who is originally from Poland but now lives in Finchley, estimated there was between two and three thousand people on the street but his shop was only allowing seven customers at a time.

Elsewhere in the country, there were reports of trouble in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire that saw some pubs close early.

John Apter, the chairman of the Police Federation which represents rank and file officers, was on duty and said it was “crystal clear” drinkers had not kept to the rule set down by the Government.

Mr Apter was on shift in Southampton and said he dealt with “naked men, happy drunks, angry drunks, fights and more angry drunks”, adding: “What was crystal clear is that drunk people can’t/won’t socially distance.

“It was a busy night but the shift managed to cope. I know other areas have had issues with officers being assaulted.”

Police dealing with the crowds in Soho
REUTERS

Saturday saw major easing of lockdown measures in England saw pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas opening their doors again under modified social distancing regulations.

PA

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty had warned the pandemic “is a long way from gone” and urged the public to follow social-distancing rules as pubs and restaurants reopened.

Speaking on Friday, Prof Whitty said: “None of us believe, and I’m sure nobody watching this believes, this is a risk-free next step. It is absolutely not, that is why we have to be really serious about it.

“There’s no doubt these are environments whose principal job it is to bring people together, that’s a great thing to do socially but it’s also a great thing from the virus’s point of view.

“Therefore, we do have to have a really clear and really disciplined approach to try and maintain social distancing whilst also enjoying pubs.”

Police said that four people were arrested and at least five pubs decided to close after alcohol related anti-social behaviour in north Nottinghamshire, while more than 200 people have been moved on by police after an “illegal rave” on Teesside.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the vast majority of people who went out on "Super Saturday" were “doing the right thing” and following social distancing.

Speaking on Sky’s Ridge On Sunday, Mr Hancock said: “Well I think that from what I’ve seen, although there’s some pictures to the contrary, very, very largely people have acted responsibly.”

He added: “So overall I’m pleased with what happened yesterday. It was really good to see people out and about and largely, very largely social distancing.”

Mr Hancock said “the large proportion of people, the vast majority of people are, I think, doing the right thing”.

He added: “But of course we’ll take action when we need to when… if the minority break the rules.”

On those who did not social distance, Mr Hancock said: “Well we’ll of course keep this very closely under review, and you’ve seen for instance in Leicester but also in other places that we don’t shirk from bringing in more drastic measures if that is what’s needed to control the virus.”

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