‘The whole ambience of Soho is being strangled by these restrictions’

• FURTHER to Sam Shaker’s comments regarding closing pubs bars and restaurants at 10pm, (Turning Soho into a ghost town is not the way ahead, October 2)…

While I don’t regard this as a sensible solution to keep coronavirus Covid-19 in check, I think the worst decision made has been to limit service to tables and chairs in pubs and bars.

How is it safer to allow 20 or 30 people to be socially distanced inside bars and allowed to remove their masks, chat to each other, then have to put masks on when standing and passing those same people while in that enclosed environment, but not be allowed to be socially distanced standing outside on pavements in the open air without masks?

The whole ambience of Soho is being strangled by these restrictions. Please let our customers bring the light back into Soho and let pubs such as mine serve customers who wish to stand and drink on the vibrant streets of Soho as they have been allowed to for many many years.

Many small venues such as mine will be faced with these draconian rules will not survive unless local government relaxes these plainly ridiculous rules that are probably doing more harm than good and allowing the coronavirus to be passed, person-to-person, inside enclosed environments.

COLIN TAYLOR
Owner of  The Toucan,
Carlisle Street
(Not included in closed street plan) so no tables & chairs outside allowed for us