A landlord has warned scrapping the 10pm curfew will be of little benefit if Norfolk is placed in a more restrictive tier.

Eastern Daily Press: Dawn Hopkins, owner and landlady of The Rose Inn in Norwich. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNDawn Hopkins, owner and landlady of The Rose Inn in Norwich. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

Prime minister Boris Johnson is today set to announce the measures the country will enter when the second national lockdown ends on December 2.

The rules will not be confirmed until Mr Johnson speaks to MPs at 3.30pm, but it is understood that the 10pm curfew will be scrapped - while last orders will still need to be called at 10pm, opening hours will be extended until 11pm.

But there are also fears that pubs under tier two will only be allowed to serve alcohol alongside a “substantial meal” - a rule which previously affected those in the old tier three.

Dawn Hopkins, landlord of the Rose Inn on Queens Road, said the substantial meal rule would be damaging for many wet-led pubs, and would make the benefits of having the 10pm curfew scrapped “meaningless”.

She said if Norfolk returned to tier one when lockdown ended, the scrapping of the 10pm curfew would be beneficial, but said the industry was still being used as a “scapegoat”.

The tiers which areas will enter have not yet been confirmed, and there have been calls for Norfolk to remain in tier one. But the government’s Covid Winter Plan is expected to place more areas into higher tiers.

In the last two months, the Rose Inn has launched a pizza menu, but remains drinks-led. If she were forced to serve a meal with all alcohol, it would have a significant impact on business.

“I will be able to serve food but not everybody wants to come in for it,” she said. “People don’t want to come in two or three times a week and pay for a meal - a lot of people won’t be able to afford that.

“They are doing this at the expense of our communities. Local people can’t pop in for a pint or two.”

And she added: “There’s no alcohol restrictions on supermarkets. What they are doing is pushing people away from the regulated, controlled environments at pubs, which have had to jump through hoops to even open.”