Busy beer gardens but no one inside and up to 75% of tables cancelled: How Tier 2 lockdown left London's bars and restaurants empty on 'horrendous' first weekend of new rules
Pubs and bars in London could go bust this winter after a 'horrendous' first weekend of the capital's tier two lockdown that saw up to 75 per cent of tables cancelled.
West End operators said the new measures mean 'pretty much a systematic closure of the sector' with some bar owners warning their industry was 'completely f***ed'.
However there were claims that multiple households flouted the ban on not mixing indoors at pubs over the weekend despite the strict new measures since Saturday.
Witnesses claimed they saw people hugging and saying 'haven't seen you in ages', while some businesses admitted they do not know how to enforce the latest rules.
But some of those following the rules across the capital piled into beer gardens over the weekend where up to six people from multiple households can still gather.
It comes as market research firm Springboard said shopper numbers at British retail destinations dropped for the fourth week in a row amid the stricter lockdown rules.
People enjoy lunch today indoors at the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, East London
Two women enjoy a spot of lunch at the Westfield shopping mall in Stratford this afternoon
People sit on tables indoors at the food court inside Westfield in Stratford, East London
People eat their lunch and read a book indoors at Westfield in Stratford this afternoon
People enjoy lunch indoors at Westfield shopping centre in East London this afternoon
The capital was placed into a tier two lockdown on Saturday, meaning it is now illegal for Londoners to socialise indoors with people outside their household.
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, told the London Evening Standard: 'It's been horrendous, it has decimated the sector.
Shopper numbers at UK retail outlets fall for a fourth straight week
A market research firm said shopper numbers at British retail destinations fell for a fourth straight week following tougher government measures.
Springboard said total shopper numbers, or footfall, fell 3.1 per cent in the week to October 17 versus the previous week.
The figure was down 2.8 per cent on high streets, down 3 per cent in retail parks and down 3.5 per cent in shopping centres.
Springboard director Diane Wehrle said: 'The additional Covid tiered restrictions had an immediate impact on footfall in retail destinations last week with an across the board week on week decline.'
Footfall in the North of England and Yorkshire region fell 5 per cent, reflecting the tighter restrictions there. The year-on-year decline in UK shopper numbers worsened to 32.3 per cent.
'We are going to see some catastrophic results in terms of businesses deciding to close. It's so shortsighted, people are trying to stay open and survive but the Tier 2 mechanism means a pretty much a systematic closure of the sector.'
Des Gunewardena, chief executive of the D&D London restaurant group, said Saturday was a 'disaster' for its West End restaurants Quaglino's and 100 Wardour Street - with both seeing a 50 per cent drop in custom compared with the previous Saturday.
Greg Marchand, chef-patron of Frenchie Covent Garden, said it did 430 covers last week, 215 forecast for this week and only 71 expected next week.
And Rob Pitcher, the boss of Revolution Bars, said sales in its London bars on Saturday dropped 60 per cent compared to the week before.
Today, around 300 people from the hospitality industry protested outside Parliament to demand extra financial support amid fears of mass redundancies.
Soho, famous for its nightlife, was pedestrianised when the UK lockdown began to lift at the start of summer so its eateries and bars could set tables up in the street.
Some workers told of a drop in customers compared to the previous weekend, but said it could be down to the falling temperatures rather than the latest measures.
One member of staff at the Greyhounds Pub on Greek Street said he now had to ask everyone sitting inside if they came from the same household.
'I ask them but it's just not practical, I have no way of checking unless I ask everyone to give me their address,' said the man, who did not wish to be named.
A waiter at L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele on Old Compton Street said they could no longer take bookings as a result of the changes, and relied on walk-ins.
Empty tables in a pub in London's Soho yesterday as people opt to sit outside instead
A bar worker serves drinks to two people sat indoors at a pub in Soho in London yesterday
Plenty of room for people to sit inside at a pub in London's Soho district yesterday
People sit outside restaurants and pubs in London's Soho district yesterday evening
People enjoy a meal outside in Soho last night after London was put into a tier two lockdown
Soho was also busy yesterday afternoon as people from different households sat outside
Despite that, Marcelo Teixeira Moraes, 24, said the restaurant had been at its 'busiest for months' on Friday.
'People were grabbing the chance to go out all together while they could, it was so busy I couldn't keep up,' he said.
Door staff at Comptons, a nearby pub, said they were also having to rely on people's honesty when it came to ensuring customers inside were from the same household.
One employee said they had been very lucky so far in terms of customer numbers, but were worried about what would happen when the weather turned colder.
Earlier in the day, anti-lockdown protesters marched down Oxford Street before congregating in nearby Leicester Square to demonstrate against the restrictions.
Led by Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy, protesters yelled at passers by to remove their masks, and telling them any vaccine would be 'poison'.
Many of those on the march headed to Soho's pubs at the end of the demo.
Meanwhile a market research firm said shopper numbers at British retail destinations fell for a fourth straight week following tougher government measures.
The hospitality industry has raised the grim prospect of 750,000 job losses across pubs, restaurants and hotels by February next year, as they protested in London today
Hundreds of hospitality workers take part in a demonstration in Parliament Square today
Springboard said total shopper numbers, or footfall, fell 3.1 per cent in the week to October 17 versus the previous week.
The figure was down 2.8 per cent on high streets, down 3 per cent in retail parks and down 3.5 per cent in shopping centres.
Springboard director Diane Wehrle said: 'The additional Covid tiered restrictions had an immediate impact on footfall in retail destinations last week with an across the board week on week decline.'
Footfall in the North of England and Yorkshire region fell 5 per cent, reflecting the tighter restrictions there. The year-on-year decline in UK shopper numbers worsened to 32.3 per cent.