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Punters partying on the streets and packing tubes make Londoners furious that the city is “as busy as it was before closing.”
Critics criticized the new curfew at 10 p.m. as the new closing time left huge crowds in the streets on the first Friday night since the law took effect.
A BBC reporter described Oxford Circus as an “impromptu party”, with revelers pouring out onto the streets all at once.
The Charlie Haynes clip showed massive crowds mingling at the central London venue, screaming and drinking, and appearing to circumvent social distancing guidelines.
The scenes captured on the tubes showed masses packing shoulder to shoulder to return home early due to the new coronavirus law.
And irate Londoners snapped pictures of crowded escalators as gamblers out of drunks filled the trains home.
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(Image: PA)
A busy Friday night in the capital led people to take pictures of the filled tubes, while questioning the wisdom of the curfew.
The street party scenes came on the same day that Londoners were warned that the capital had officially joined the government’s coronavirus watch list.
All of London’s boroughs are now an “area of concern”.
The capital is not yet following the blockade of other areas, but their inclusion on the watch list comes after a week of pressure from London Mayor Sadiq Khan for the government to take action in the city.
(Image: AdamMHyman / Twitter)
The capital’s tubes were full tonight, despite the fact that nets remained relatively quiet in the months since restrictions on all but essential travel were relaxed.
Londoners had been urged to stay away from transport amid fears the virus would spread like wildfire on the tube.
(Image: PA)
Busy stations with revelers heading home on the latest orders sparked criticism of the government’s curfew decision on Friday.
CODE Hospitality founder Adam Hyman tweeted a picture of a packed Tube escalator after 10pm, criticizing the government for not anticipating the problem.
“Central Line on Tottenham Court Rd tonight because everyone has to leave hospitality establishments by 10pm,” he wrote.
(Image: PA)
“The most crowded I have seen in Tube since before the closing. Genius moves of the Government”.
And Twitter user Alfie Clifton snapped a photo of a crowded subway car, blaming the mayor.
He wrote: “Don’t stay in a socially estranged pub / bar / restaurant after 10pm, but all Londoners MUST go home at the same time and hit the streets and the tube … idiot Sadiq Khan” .
Boris Johnson had announced the hospitality restrictions this week in a bid to curb rising infection rates as the UK enters a second wave of the virus.
(Image: PA)
Pubs, bars and restaurants must call in final orders well before 10 p.m. and offer table service only under the strict new rules that went into effect Thursday night.
The measures come just weeks after the end of the government’s food and beverage discount scheme designed to boost the struggling industry.
The British were encouraged to spend money during the popular Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which was intended to be a much-needed injection in the arm of drinkers and restaurants.
The hospitality industry has been in an uproar this week over England’s new measures, warning that they did not stop punters from taking drinks at parties, despite the ‘rule of six’.
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