Tier 2 drinkers celebrate end of lockdown with breakfast beers and full English

TIER 2 drinkers have toasted the end of lockdown today with breakfast beers and a full English in their local.

The country has been in severe restrictions since November 5, with pubs shut and mingling banned until this morning.

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Today the country has moved back into a "beefed up" tier system - with restaurants and shops allowed to open back up.

Depending on what tier you live in, Brits are once more able to enjoy a socially distanced pint with pals.

And excited people have already sunk their first festive tipple to toast the second lockdown ending.

One thrilled person tweeted "I'm off for a cooked breakfast and a pint" as Brits were snapped tucking into breakfast with their pints.

The Sun stopped by for a swift one at The Kentish Drovers, Peckham, in Tier 2 - where delighted punters eagerly turned up from 9am this morning.

Nursing a draft San Miguel and eating a veggie breakfast, Goldsmiths’ student Sam Adams, 20, said: “Its a great place to come and socialise again over a lovely pint.

“It’s what’s been missing in the second lockdown and a massive part of our university lives.”

Another drinker, Neil Flynn, 51, said he had been “counting the days” until he could head back to the Drovers, which he goes to every Wednesday and Thursday. 

'OFF FOR A COOKED BREAKFAST AND PINT'

He told The Sun the Government’s new rules were “too harsh” as he tucked into a pint of Doombar and one of Spoons’ small breakfasts which sells for £3.19.

Regular Alex Dixon, 68, added. “I don’t think anyone can understand the Tier Two rules really.

“I just wanted a bacon sandwich and I can’t have a drink with that.”

Jack Cooper, 21, a carer from Greenwich, couldn’t wait to get a freshly poured pint this morning. 

He tucked into a full English and a pint of lager at 11am as soon as The Montague Pyke on Charring Cross Road opened its doors. 

He told The Sun: “This is the best pint I’ve had in the last four weeks - having a can at home just isn’t the same. It’s so nice to finally get out of the house and be around other people. 

And drinkers in The Rockingham Arms in Southwark enjoyed their first pub session in four weeks but grumbled about the new rules after having to order a basic breakfast.

The boozers tucked into bacon sandwiches with beers lined up on the table so they could stay for longer.

David Lloyd, 70, from Southwark, said: "I ate breakfast before I came out but still had to order something.

It comes as:

• Lockdown ends today and a Tier system begins for England
• Britain is first country in world to approve a jab
• Mass vaccination programme to start from next week
• Around 800,000 doses will be available from next week, with the first shipments arriving as early as today
• Brits queue for Primark as shops open up

"I tried asking for a scotch egg but they don't have any so got a cheese sandwich that I've kept in my pocket for later.

"You have to order your drinks in bulk but once they're done, you have to leave. One regular left because of the new rules."

But Brits couldn't contain their excitement online about a trip to their local later on.

One keen to hit the pub tweeted: "And we're out of lockdown! Woohoo! Who wants to come to the pub with me for a pint and a substantial meal?"

And another happily added: "Lockdown is over, you can catch me in the pub with my friends tonight."

In the Rising Sun in Tier 2 Redditch, Supermarket worker Keith Hill started off with three pints of Guinness and a £3.69 eggs benedict.

The 57-year-old said: “The rules are confusing - even the politicians don’t understand them. What’s a substantial meal? No one knows."

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And Mick Cox, 54, said the rules were “so unfair” on smaller pubs.

He said: “Whats stopping someone finishing their breakfast, going out and then coming back in and ordering some chicken wings and some more drinks?”

Ninety-nine per cent of England are now in the harshest Tiers 2 and 3. In Tier 2 only pubs serving "substantial meals" are allowed to still pull pints for punters.

Debate has raged on what counts as a proper meal alongside a drink, with Environment Secretary George Eustice delighting drinkers by suggesting said: “I think a Scotch egg probably would count.”

However Michael Gove tripped up three times when asked the same question on if the snack would be classed as a meal.

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Today drinkers raised a glass to the end of lockdown at Britain’s most remote pub - 60km from the mainland in the Isles of Scilly. 

The Sun joined the landlord and landlady Chris and Sue Hopkins at the Fraggle Rock to say cheers and down pints. 

Landlord Chris, 65, and Sue, 61, have run the bar - which is only accessible by boat - since 1991. 

Chris told The Sun: “We are really looking forward to getting people back in and doing our Christmas events like quizzes and our Friday night fish and chips. 

“The end of lockdown will make a difference, we were strict during lockdown for our customers and our staff so it will be nice to relax things a bit." 

Pubs have curated special menus with cheaper fare specifically for people to order alongside drinks - with one savvy landlord launching a £1.99 "Boris Menu".

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In Tier 3 it's takeaway only for pubs and restaurants, with people having to wait a little longer to get their hands on a proper pint.

Shoppers were seen queuing in the dark from 5am and gyms reopened at midnight as the national lockdown ended this morning.

Dozens of fitness fanatics flocked to a gym in London, while Brits queued up to to be the first people inside Primark as England moved into the new tier system.

Just 700,000 people - or 1.27 per cent of the population - have escaped strict rules on socialising and going to the pub now the lockdown has ended.

Only the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are in the lowest Tier 1 - which will face very little restrictions.

Some 32 million people in England (just over 56 per cent of the population) are in Tier 2 - including Liverpool and London.

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And nearly 42 per cent (23 million people) are in the top level - featuring large swathes of the North East, North West, parts of the Midlands, and Kent.

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin announced more than 50 pubs across Wales will shut at 6pm on Friday after being banned from selling alcohol.

Mr Martin said: "I don't want to wind the Welsh up by criticising their First Minister, but he is talking cobblers.

"There is very good evidence that lockdowns, and this is a type of lockdown, simply don't work. There is lots of examples of that throughout the world.

This scare tactic that so many people are going to die are nonsense in my opinion."

Boris Johnson promised last week there was "hope" for all to escape their Tiers - and vowed to review them before Christmas.

But he warned of a possible new national lockdown in January if Brits don't follow the strict new rules beginning today.

There will be a brief reprieve over the Christmas period for Brits living in all Tiers.

From December 23 to December 27 people will be able to leave their local areas and join up in "festive bubbles" with a total of three households.

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