Social distancing will be scrapped next month as lockdown restrictions ease, according to reports.
The TImes understands that the 'one metre-plus' rule is set to be axed on June 21 so restaurants, pubs, theatres and cinemas can reopen fully.
However, mask restrictions will remain when venues reopen at full capacity.
Foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, confirmed "some safeguards" may stay in place when legal restrictions end.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: "We want to get to a position at the end of June where we can get life back to as normal as possible but there need to be some safeguards in place."
When asked what additional measures might be needed, he said: "It will be around distancing maybe there will be something around masks but I don’t want to prejudge it."
Mr Raab added that "steady steps" out of lockdown are "the smart way to go" so that the many sacrifices are not squandered as people plead for hugs between family members to be permitted again sooner.
He said that "all the different contingencies" are being looked at when asked about a reported plan to consider offering vaccines to secondary school pupils as soon as September.
Mr Raab said: "We're very close now to really turning the corner and I think we still need to be careful to go as I said we don't want to see the gains lost and the sacrifices that have been made undone.
"By the time we get to June 21 almost all social restrictions will be lifted so there's only a little bit more time to go, but it's right to make sure we do that in a careful way."
The cabinet minister acknowledged that the rollout of vaccines has increased the temptation for still prohibited social interactions outside individuals' households including "hugging your loved ones that you haven't been able to do for a while".
He said: "I do think we just need to make sure that in the last lap, if you like, that we are careful and we don't lose the gains we've made."
