Wetherspoon will reopen 60 of its Scottish pubs from next month as coronavirus restrictions begin to ease.
The pub chain says that the branches will welcome back punters from April 26 - which is a date set by the Scottish Government for the hospitality sector to reopen.
Pubs will serve food and non-alcoholic drinks inside, while serving alcohol without having to order a meal outside.
Outdoor services will be allowed to remain open until 10pm, while indoor hospitality can continue until 8pm as per the Government guidelines.
Six people from three households can enjoy hospitality services outdoors from April 26. This will be reduced to four people from two households indoors.
Wetherspoon’s regional manager for Scotland, Helen Dumbreck, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming both customers and staff back to our pubs.
“Our pubs play an important part in the social life of their respective towns and cities and it is great news that they will be able to reopen soon.
“Each of our pubs will observe all the necessary safety rules around Covid-19.”
April 26 will be the first time that the hospitality sector has been allowed to reopen across the whole of Scotland since lockdown restrictions were imposed from Boxing Day last year.
A further reopening of hospitality services is expected to begin from May 17 under the series of indicative dates revealed by Nicola Sturgeon yesterday.
Non-essential retail, gyms and outdoor events are expected to restart over the next two months.
The First Minister said that the number of new cases of coronavirus have fallen sharply during the near-three months of lockdown.
It is hoped that Scotland will move to 'at least' level zero restrictions from the end of June.
Speaking at Holyrood yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon said that the ‘brighter days are now in sight’ amid the pandemic.
