PUBS have reopened in England for the first time in months, with punters queuing up to get their hands on a poured pint.
Many pubs, gyms, salons and non-essential shops will open for the first time in 114 days today as the Covid lockdown eases.
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Keen punters were seen waiting patiently in line for pubs to open at midnight.
Pent-up demand will see £1.5billion — that’s £2.7million a minute — spent in venues and reopening attractions between 9am and 6pm.
Work leave requests for today are up almost 20 per cent.
Some bosses will let work-from-home staff pop out for a bargain or beer.
BrightHR, which monitors annual leave at more than 10,000 workplaces, said: “It’s fair to say April 12 is the most requested day off in the last year excluding Christmas, Easter and summer holidays.”
More than a million will visit pubs, with eight million in shops and millions more making day trips.
In the next week, 24 million people — half of England’s adult population — will go drinking or shopping.
