Birmingham's Hurst Street shut for outdoor seating boost

Birmingham's Southside has been "devastated" by the pandemic according to business leaders

A key city road will be closed at weekends in the hope of helping bars and restaurants bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hurst Street in Birmingham will be pedestrianised to allow venues to have more seating outdoors while observing social distancing measures.

The route in one of the city's main entertainment hubs will shut from midday Saturday until 00:00 BST Monday.

The council said the closure over six weekends would show the city "is back".

It said the move was a "great opportunity" for businesses.

But there has been criticism from some ventures that the measure could have been rolled out sooner.

Southside Business Improvement District (BID), which represents an area including Birmingham's Chinatown and Gay Quarter, previously said it had been in discussion with the council for two months.

It had also accused the authority of adopting "draconian nonsense" in not sooner approving plans to boost venues' al fresco offerings.

The area is home to Birmingham's Gay Quarter

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The council said it had been considering issues including a Covid-19 risk assessment and other safety matters.

The authority said on Friday that businesses wishing to make use of the project would still need to apply for a temporary pavement licence through a "new fast-track application system".

The government announced the fast-track scheme in June.

In a statement released by the council, Southside BID manager Julia Robinson said social distancing measures meant many hospitality venues were only operating at 10 to 20% capacity and "struggling to survive".

She said the group had "worked hard" on behalf of businesses to pedestrianise Hurst Street.

Council leader Ian Ward said the authority would continue to work with partners to "help Birmingham recover from the impact of Covid-19".