Wetherspoons serves first customers in Birmingham as pubs reopen after lockdown

This was the scene at a Birmingham branch of Wetherspoons on Monday April 12 as pubs finally reopened.

The drinking spot, in the city centre, welcomed back customers on the first day of lockdown restrictions easing.

There was a countdown outside as the drinking spot reopened, with chains removed from the door and patrons welcomed inside.

Staff sported face coverings as they welcomed back customers, who were cheering and waving at cameras as they headed inside for a pint.

Pints of Heineken, Fosters and Carling were on the menu as staff served customers outdoors.

Drinkers also enjoyed coffees and teas under a covered area near to the watering hole in the city centre.

© PA Customers were seen bashing pint glasses together outside and saying ‘cheers!’, with some shouting:

Customers were seen bashing pint glasses together outside and saying ‘cheers!’, with some shouting: “Freedom!”

“It was lovely,” said one, adding: “I was far safer in the pubs than I was sitting on the bus.

“The pubs should never have been closed in the first place. Happy days. Happy days are here again.”

Customers cheered as the first drinks were served at the UK’s biggest pub chain on Monday after coronavirus restrictions were eased.

© PA Customers were seen bashing pint glasses together outside and saying ‘cheers!’, with some shouting:

A fellow customer wrote: “We are the Post Lockdown Pub Pioneer Group. I have got a jug of cocktails to save me having to go back and forth from the bar.

“I have a breakfast – I’ve been waiting for this breakfast for months!”

Another said it was “great to be out” because so many “live on their own” and lockdown was “lonely”.