Coronavirus: Liverpool City Council to support city's outdoor eating expansion

Castle Street will be pedestrianised to allow businesses to expand outdoors

Grants are to be made available to Liverpool venues so they can improve their outdoor facilities and reopen sooner, the city's council has said.

The authority has set aside £450,000 which it hopes local businesses will use to purchase furniture, heaters, barriers, umbrellas and other items.

Mayor Joe Anderson said the move would help venues that have been severely affected by the Covid-19 lockdown.

Business owner Natalie Haywood said it would "transform" dining in the city.

The council also plans to pedestrianise a number of streets, including Castle Street and Bold Street, to support the expansion of outdoor eating in the city centre.

'Practical support'

The government has yet to give a date when restaurants and bars will be allowed to reopen to customers, with only takeaway services allowed at present.

Mayor Anderson said the funding, which will be available from mid-June, will help venues with only indoor space to open sooner as the coronavirus lockdown lifts, as it is believed outdoor licences may be eased first.

"We’ve got a substantial amount of people furloughed in the city, and many will be made redundant," he said.

"We have to maintain and protect as many businesses as we can to avoid the numbers going up, and the earlier they can open, the better."

Liverpool Business Improvement District chairman Bill Addy said social distancing would be at the "forefront" of the planning process, but the idea was that businesses may find adhering to guidelines easier if they had extra outdoor space.

Ms Haywood, who owns the restaurants One Fine Day and Oh Me Oh My, said increasing capacity while sticking to social distancing rules will allow venues to bring in much needed extra revenue.

She said she had already drafted plans for her businesses, which include two-metre gaps between tables, PPE for staff and an ability to order via an app to reduce the need for customers to visit the bar.

A council spokesman said the grants were coming from existing budgets, "by repurposing capital spending to give businesses practical support".

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