BUSINESSES across Herefordshire are gearing up to welcoming more customers back and saying goodbye to coronavirus restrictions with lockdown set to be lifted.

Boris Johnson announced on July 12 that remaining restrictions such as social distancing and the wearing of face masks will be scrapped on July 19, dubbed Freedom Day.

There will no longer be legal limits on social contact, meaning the current rule of six indoors and 30 outdoors will be a thing of the past.

Masks will no longer be mandatory but are still advised in crowded areas, although public transport operators and businesses can ask customers to wear one.

Nightclubs can reopen, and normal service will also resume in pubs and restaurants, with table service no longer a requirement.

Anthony Murphy of Hereford’s Beefy Boys said: “We are delighted that restrictions will be lifted and that the NHS has done so well with vaccinating the country so quickly.

“As much as we are overjoyed that things seem to be heading back to some form of normal, we understand that not everyone will feel ready yet.

“We will still be making all our waiters and waitresses wear masks, use Covid screens, and carry out enhanced sanitation of tables for the next few weeks as we ease out of restrictions, but customers will be free to wear a mask or not.”

Vet Phil Adams of Holmer Veterinary Surgery said they would continue to take extra precautions due to the track and trace system.

“If one staff members comes into contact with someone who tests positive or tests positive themselves they all have to isolate and shut the surgery," he said.

“Currently we use minimal PPE inside the surgery, but until the third wave has gone away we won’t be allowing people into the surgery.

“We won’t be returning to normal until all our staff members have had the second jab. It would be foolish to act as normal after coming this far”

In Leominster, shopkeepers had mixed feelings about the lifting of restrictions.

Carl Rowley, of Step in Time, Corn Street, Leominster, said he was happy for both customers and staff to do what they felt comfortable with, but Annie MacDougall, of No. 14 Antiques in the town’s Broad Street said she felt let down by the change in the law.

“It’s not taking into account how people feel. A lot still feel vulnerable,” she said.

Shoppers have been told by the Government they are expected to wear masks from Monday when they will no longer be required by law in a coronavirus policy criticised as a “real mess”.

New guidance on workplace safety for when most restrictions in England end says the Government “expects and recommends” masks to be worn by workers and customers in crowded, enclosed spaces as the work from home order ends.

Table service is recommended to continue in bars, while pubs, restaurants and nightclubs are encouraged to check vaccine and testing status as a condition of entry through the NHS Covid Pass.

Boris Johnson previously suggested so-called vaccine passports would only be recommended in “nightclubs and other venues with large crowds”.