Shock and ale: electric fence keeps drinkers back from the bar in English pub

Landlord Johnny McFadden, 61, poses for a photo at the bar area of The Star Inn, where an electric fence has been installed at the bar area to ensure customers are socially distanced from staff while ordering drinks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in in St Just, Cornwall, Britain July 14, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson

Man walks into a bar, and into an electric fence. It's not a joke, but rather the novel measure taken by one Cornish pub to enforce distance rules to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The landlord of Star Inn in the village of St Just, south-west England, has installed an electric fence in front of the bar to make sure that social distancing guidelines are followed.

An electric fence installed at the bar area of The Star Inn, to ensure customers are socially distanced from staff while ordering drinks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cornwall, Britain July 14, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson

"If I had put a little bit of rope there I don't think anybody would have taken this much attention as they have to an electric fence," pub landlord Jonny McFadden said.

Pubs in England were allowed to reopen on July 4, but must implement social distancing measures. That includes minimising staff contact with customers, and reducing the time pub-goers spend at the bar.

McFadden said the rules represented a big culture change for his pub.

A general view of The Star Inn, where an electric fence was installed at the bar area to ensure customers are socially distanced from staff while ordering drinks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cornwall, Britain July 14, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson

"I run a very small bar. Everybody is accustomed to sitting at the bar, pushing at the bar. They can't do that now. Things have changed," he said.

Although the fence is not turned on, McFadden said that the same logic which works in the nearby farms of rural Cornwall works for the local drinkers too.

"As long as there's a warning sign on an electric fence and you are warned about it, it's totally legal. And there's the fear factor - it works," he said.

An electric fence installed at the bar area of The Star Inn, to ensure customers are socially distanced from staff while ordering drinks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cornwall, Britain July 14, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson

"People are like sheep. Sheep keep away, people keep away."

(Writing by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)

An electric fence installed at the bar area of The Star Inn, to ensure customers are socially distanced from staff while ordering drinks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cornwall, Britain July 14, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson