Off-licences in Leeds allowed to stay open in coronavirus lockdown

With pubs and bars ordered to close to stem the spread of Covid-19, off-licences were added to the list of shops allowed to stay open today.

Licensed shops selling alcohol, including those in breweries, also made the updated list of stores exempted from mass closures in the retail sector.

Corner shops, pharmacies, supermarkets, hardware stores, banks, petrol stations and bike shops can also stay open during the pandemic.

On Monday night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the closure of all non-essential stores as he plunged the UK into a lockdown to ease the burden on the NHS.

Pubs, bars and restaurants had already been told to shut their doors in an effort to prevent the spread on people mixing closely in public.

Places of worship must close, apart from for funerals, as must libraries, museums, galleries and bingo halls.