Pubs reopening: Customers hit with MAJOR change to pub rules on Super Saturday

Under the new rules, only one person within the group of friends or relatives will have to provide their contact details. However, the lead person will have to say how many people are in the group.

The previous guidelines stated that pubs would have to keep record of all of their guests for 21 days after their visit.

The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, announced the move back in June.

Mr Hancock said: “That is the sort of thing that we are looking at for how you make it safe to open things.

“There are all sorts of mitigations you can put in place to be physically closer than two metres, but not have the transmission of the virus or the risk of the transmission that you would otherwise have.”

It was announced around the same time as it was revealed air bridges would come into force from July 4.

At the time, a senior Government source said: “The Prime Minister will make it clear that we are trying to get back to as normal as possible – being able to do all the things you could do before – but in a Covid-secure way, so it will be a new normal.

“Changing the 2m rule to 1m-plus will be the key to opening up lots of things that have been in lockdown until now. It will mean you can go for a meal with someone from outside your own household, for example.

“The hope is that with test and trace now in place, we will be able to open up the economy and any re-introduction of lockdown measures will be much more targeted, so that we avoid the need for another national lockdown.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to hold a Downing Street press briefing on Friday ahead of the lockdown relaxation across much of the UK.

When the easing was first announced, Mr Johnson said “our long, national hibernation is coming to an end” and “life is returning to our streets”.

The prime minister’s spokesman said: “We do want people to be able to enjoy themselves but at the same time, now we have got coronavirus under control we need to keep it under control.

“The guidance is there, we want people to follow it and then we can make more progress together in the fight against coronavirus.

“The PM has said that it is important that people don’t overdo it.”