MIDDLEWICH Royal British Legion is reopening on Monday, July 6.

The club in Lewin Road says it needs an extra few days to get everything ready to meet the coronavirus safety regulations.

Secretary John Foster said: "We have all the hand sanitisers and social distancing regulations in place. There will be a one way system at the bar.

"We have to get rid of all the old beer and get everything sorted with the breweries."

The number of people allowed in the bar will be restricted.

Toilets will be open as normal and the entire club had a deep clean yesterday, Wednesday.

Staff were put on furlough during lockdown and only some are returning as the club is still not allowed to host private functions.

Only the games room at the back and the lounge will be open during the back.

Bingo returns on Friday night and Sunday lunchtime when the big room reopens.

"The guidelines say we can't have any music and we are not allowed entertainment."

People normally hold family celebrations, christenings and parties but had to cancel them all during the pandemic.

The club is facing a big drop in income. This is the first time the current building has been forced to close for so long in its 59-year history.

"It is worrying," said John. "We would usually be fully booked on Friday and Saturday nights. That's where we make our money. We rely on private functions.We don't do food but we have a caterer people can use. At present only gatherings of 30 people are allowed.

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"Every other pub and club is in the same boat we'll just have to suck it and see how it goes. We will review it in three weeks time. In the meantime, we're asking people to be patient and support us.

"Hopefully sooner or later we will find a vaccine."