Pubs to continue selling takeaway pints as Covid-era licensing rules retained

Pubs in England and Wales will be allowed to continue selling takeaway pints after the Government decided to keep pandemic-era licensing rules.

Under the relaxed regulations, businesses were able to serve customers through hatches when they were forced to close in 2020 to restrict the spread of Covid.

The rules were due to expire in September but Rishi Sunak is said to have decided to enable them to continue, the Sun on Sunday reported.

The Prime Minister said: “I’ve heard the British pub industry loud and clear – takeaway pints are a boost for their businesses and our economy.

“That’s why they’re here to stay.”

The move, which was aimed at helping the crippled hospitality sector boost sales during Covid, has already been extended twice.

It means establishments will not need to make a separate application to local councils for the extra licence needed for off-site sales.

Many pubs and bars have struggled to recover following the pandemic as they face rising energy and other costs and concerns over falling sales amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The intervention comes after Mr Sunak was heckled during a visit to a beer festival where he was seeking to promote a shake-up of the alcohol duty regime that will increase tax on a range of drinks.

He has insisted the reforms centre on “backing British pubs” and that businesses and consumers will benefit, despite the increases on wine, vodka and canned beer.

First set out by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor in 2021, the new system aims to encourage drinkers to cut back by taxing all alcohol based on its strength.

Whisky distillers described the changes as a “hammer blow” and brewers warned of a tax hike on bottles and cans but the Prime Minister said the overhaul was “the most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over 140 years”, enabled by Britain’s exit from the EU.