The fence is completely legal and is off, the owner said.
LONDON – Many pub and restaurant owners in Britain have been forced to devise atypical methods of serving customers in a world of social estrangement.
But while table service, sanitizing stations, and one-way systems have become essential to the pub experience, one owner has gone one step further to protect staff and customers – installing an electric fence.
Jonny McFadden, owner of the Star Inn in Cornwall, said the electric fence has so far been effective in helping its customers keep their distance since bars and restaurants reopened in the UK earlier this month.
“If I had put a little rope in there, I don’t think anyone would have paid as much attention,” he said. “I run a very small bar. Everyone is used to sitting at the bar, pushing the bar. They can’t do that now. Things have changed.”
“People are like sheep,” he added. “The sheep stay away, the people stay away.”
McFadden said he had been assured that the fence was completely legal if proper warnings were provided, and even though the fence is off, customers still had the “fear factor” to make sure they followed the government’s guidance on social distancing.
“There is a serious point,” said McFadden. “We all must maintain social distancing.”
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