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Six in 10 Brits 'don't feel comfortable' with going to a restaurant

Wooden table with napkins and condiments at completely empty rustic restaurant with now people and customers during covid 19 corona virus pandemic shut down.
60% of Brits wouldn't feel comfortable sitting indoors in a restaurant, an ONS poll has revealed (Getty)

More than half of Brits are still uncomfortable about eating indoors at a restaurant, a poll has revealed.

According to the poll by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a fifth of adults said they would be comfortable or vey comfortable eating indoors at a restaurant, but 60% disagreed.

The research comes as restaurants and bars were allowed to reopen on 4 July following months of closure during the coronavirus lockdown.

The government has also launched an ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme in a bid to get more people dining out, offering half-price meals to diners eating out every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during August.

The ONS polled 1,788 adults in Britain between 2-5 July as part of its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

Its results showed that women were more likely than men, and older people more likely than younger adults, to feel uncomfortable with eating at a restaurant indoors.

Read more: Is this the future of dining? Restaurants could feature bubble pods after lockdown

Two thirds of the over 70s are uncomfortable with the idea, compared with 59% of adults aged 16-69, it also revealed.

People were more likely to feel comfortable eating at an outdoor table, it found, with more than a third (37%) saying they did while slightly more (39%) said they would feel uncomfortable doing so.

A spokesman for UKHospitality, which represents the sector, said: “Businesses have been working hard to reopen and to get the reopening right.

“UKHospitality has produced detailed guidance to make sure that staff and customers are made as safe as possible.”

The poll also revealed that the majority of respondents said they were unlikely to go on a summer holiday, either in the UK or abroad.

More than eight in 10 said they were unlikely to go abroad, while 62% said they were unlikely to holiday within the UK.

A quarter of adults said they were likely or very likely to take a staycation, while 9% said the same for a holiday abroad.

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