It was a quiet Friday night for Newcastle’s bars on the first day after strict coronavirus curfews were introduced.
Nightspots in the popular Bigg Market and Quayside areas which would usually be packed with drinkers were deserted as the region spent its first day under new lockdown measures.
As of Friday, pubs and restaurants have been forced to close their doors between 10pm and 5am - and are only allowed to offer table service.
And residents are advised not to go socialise in public with people not in their households or support bubbles.
While the restriction on going to pubs and restaurants is ‘guidance’ rather than the ban imposed on socialising in private homes, many venues have imposed a ‘one household’ rule in light of the Government’s announcement.
The result appeared to be one of the quietest nights in the Toon since the hospitality industry started to reopen in July.
Among the few people out on Newcastle ’s Quayside were housemates Adam Speakman, Nathan Hill and Sam Smith, who said they would be keeping to the restrictions “as best we can”.
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Adam said: “There’s going to be people we want to hang out with but can’t.
“But we’re lucky that we’re three mates living together. There are a lot of people not in that situation.”
At Riverside, which was experiencing one of its quietest nights in weeks, Jo and John Jeffery were out for a drink with their son Toby after dropping him off from Lancashire for his week at university.
Toby said the rules would be “a pain,” adding, “I’ll try to stick to them, but probably not.
“All six rooms in the flat in my halls count as one household, but I have mates in other halls. People are just going to try and find who they know, and hang out with them.”
Jo said: “I think students are going to be a law unto themselves.
“It’s really hard to put restrictions on people when they’re trying to get to know each other.
“I am concerned about his safety because he’s three hours away now, I don’t know what’s going to happen if he gets ill.”
Also enjoying a drink at the venue was Kieran Gilmour, who said: “I wouldn’t go out of my way to stick to them. I wouldn’t stop seeing my friends.
“It doesn’t make much sense that I can go to work with someone but I can’t go to eat with them.”
The latest measures affect Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Northumberland, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and County Durham from Friday.
The restrictions come as around 40,000 students are understood to be preparing to return to Newcastle University in the coming days, and nearly 20,000 to Durham.
