The Scottish Government has addressed confusion surrounding the cafe exemption to new temporary restrictions that come into force across Scotland tonight.
Earlier today the The Scottish Licensed Trade Association criticised as "ridiculous" the fact that, on the day the new regulations come in to place in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Forth Valley, Lanarkshire and Lothian, they didn't know which licensed premises are allowed to stay open.
To clarify the difference between a cafe and restaurant, cafes have been defined by the Government as "an establishment whose primary business activity... is the sale of non-alcoholic drinks, snacks or light meals...".
The temporary new restrictions mean that all licensed premises in the five areas will be required to close from 6pm this evening - with the exception of takeaway services - while cafes can remain open from 6am to 6pm, provided they do not serve alcohol.
Speaking at today's briefing, Nicola Sturgeon said: "The reason for this cafe exemption is quite simple. It's to give people, particularly those who might be living alone and also working from home, somewhere they can still meet a friend for a coffee and a chat.
"And we judge that is important to help reduce the loneliness and isolation that comes with some of these restrictions that are in place right now."
"But, and this is the other side of this balance, we are deliberately trying to reduce the volume of places that people come together - so that we can stop the virus spreading.
""So we've got to draw any exemption really tightly. That's why we're not allowing premises like restaurants to just stop serving alcohol, become cafes, and stay open. That would undermine the purpose of these restrictions."
"But we did realise there was a potential anomaly for existing cafes that have an alcohol license even though serving alcohol is very, very incidental to their business."
Extra police officers are being deployed on the streets in Glasgow and across the Central Belt tonight to support pubs and restaurants in closing at 6pm.
