A HEREFORDSHIRE pub has issued a plea after 'freedom day' was delayed due to rising coronavirus infections.

Today (June 21) was supposed to be the day when all remaining coronavirus restrictions ended in England, under the Government's phased plan to return to normality.

But the day was delayed to allow more adults to be vaccinated as cases of the Delta coronavirus variant began to rise in Britain.

The owners of one historic Herefordshire pub have issued a plea, asking for no more extensions to the removal of restrictions after the trade was hard-hit by the pandemic.

Writing on social media, owners Mark and Lowri Price, who have been at the helm at the 14th century inn in Whitney-on-Wye said: "Today was the day we had been looking forward to for so long. No more having to police our customers to make sure they remained seated and didn’t talk to other tables. No more of those dreadful salt and pepper sachets!

"And to celebrate we were going to be able to listened to Claire Tomasik and Nigel Smith perform a musical interlude.

"Unfortunately not to be today. Some restrictions are harder to live with than others, hopefully he will stick to his word and in another four weeks we will see more freedom. 

"We do understand safety has to come first and we will always stick to the guidelines given but PLEASE no more extensions!"

Pubs and hospitality venues are currently allowed to welcome customers both indoors and outside, but strict restrictions including social distancing and table service only remain in place, while other venues such as nightclubs cannot currently reopen.

The removal of all coronavirus restrictions was delayed by four weeks earlier this month, to at least July 19.