Pubs, cafes and restaurants could reopen within WEEKS selling food and booze from market-style street stalls
PUBS, cafes and restaurants could be open to sell pints and food as market-style outdoor stalls in just weeks.
Ministers are drawing up plans to relax outdoor seating licences as part of measures to get Britain moving again amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Plans are being considered to offer "blanket permission" to businesses wanting to add outdoor seating for customers.
Venues without a licence currently would have pay around £300 to get their hands on one.
It comes as businesses already with allocated outdoor seating are due to be given government guidance on how to reopen from June 1.
Next month marks the earliest possible time the second stage of the Government's three step plan to reopen Britain can get underway.
Many hospitality venues have been completely closed since the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a full lockdown back in March.
It is hoped the outdoor openings will allow businesses to get people back to work.
Government sources have said they want to find "small, simple changes" to help get business going again, reports .
Shops may also be able to set up outdoor stalls which can allow them to sell their wares on the streets.
A Whitehall source said it could lead to a "more vibrant style of continental town centres" arriving in Britain for the summer.
The plan however is once again conditional on the continued decline of the virus based on the Covid Alert System.
Pubs and bars have already begun reopening in other countries, such as in Germany, Spain and Australia.
Meanwhile, faith leaders have held talks with the government about the possibility of holding weddings as part of step three - which is slated at earliest to get going in July.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi, are said to have met with the government on Friday.
Proposals are being considered to allow small, socially distanced open air weddings to take place on church porches.
Other plans are being considered to work out timetables for prayers to take place in churches and temples in June.
Britain saw the first easing of coronavirus measures last week - with permission granted for unlimited outdoor exercise and some sectors returning to work.
The PM is also considering how to expand household groups following confusion over advice which said you can only meet one other person, such as just one parent.
Mr Johnson hopes a slow phased unlocking of Britain will allow the country to slip back into some sort of "new normal".
The government still needs to fulfill the five requirements needed to end lockdown, and the PM has been clear the situation with the virus is being constantly monitored.
Britain's death toll climbed to 34,555 from 240,161 cases as the UK continues to be the worst impacted nation in Europe.
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Schools are believed to be key in efforts to reopen the country, with it hoped the first classes can return in June.
However, teaching unions have slammed the plan as "reckless" amid questions about the ongoing infectiousness of the virus and how effective social distancing can be in classrooms.
A leading head teachers' union has today backed the government's plans, while arrangements are also being mulled for potential "summer camps" to get children back up to speed during the holidays.