Pubs in England will be allowed to stay open to 11.15pm on Sunday in case the Euros football final goes into extra time and penalties, No10 has said.
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson signed off plans for extra drinking time – which would kick in whether or not England get through to the Wembley showdown.
Normally pubs have to close at 10.30pm on a Sunday but the extra 45 minutes will be granted given the exceptional circumstances of the football tournament.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We are taking forward plans to allow pubs to open until 11.15pm on Sunday.
“The entire nation has been gripped by the Euros and this will ensure people can come together to enjoy the final in pubs, should they wish to do so.”
An emergency tweak to licensing law will be passed by the Commons to allow the one-off change.
The final at Wembley kicks off at 8pm on Sunday but there is a danger that if the match goes into extra time it risks breaching current closing time regulations.
England play Denmark in the semi-final of the Euros on Wednesday and would face either Italy or Spain, who play tonight.
Johnson told a press conference on Monday: “I think my advice to everybody would obviously be to support England enthusiastically but in a responsible way.
“The events at Wembley clearly have particular conditions attached to them with particular testing requirements that we will insist on.”
Many pubs have seen the Euros tournament as a way of bouncing back from big losses during the pandemic, with many packed or overbooked in recent weeks as England progressed through each sstage.
As part of the PM’s plans to ditch all Covid restrictions from July 19, pubs will be allowed to abandon social distancing rules and allow bar service in England.
Health secretary Sajid Javid admitted to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that case numbers were set to soar to 100,000 a day by later this summer, but claimed that UK vaccination rates would act as a wall of protection against serious illness.
“By the time we get to [July] 19 we would expect case numbers by then to be at least double what they are now, so around 50,000 new cases a day.
“As we ease and go into the summer, we expect them to rise significantly and they could go as high as 100,000 case numbers.”
