Time Limit On Restaurants?

[daz1969]

Hello, on Friday we visited a restaurant in a garden centre in Wales. We ordered food and drink after a bit of a faff, we ate our meals but then we were approached by a member of staff asking us to leave as we had 'overstayed' and the law states that you can only stay in a restaurant for a maximum hour and a half (we had been there about an hour & 45 minutes, we were catching up because we hadn't seen each other for 18 months), its not as if we hadn't ordered anything. I've tried to find out if this is correct but can't seem to find anything out about it, also the restaurant was not full at all & no people were waiting for tables and there was no signage explaining the rules / 'law'.

[Canary42]

You're not alone - a recent poll showed 60% of people don't understand Government Rules on Covid.

[Zacs-Master]

Me neither. Looks like the garden centre’s own rules. If there weren’t people waiting for tables then it was a bit daft.

[Gill55]

If you google how long can you stay in a restaurant, there is an article from Wales online dated 20 April on Wales online and it says no time limits being imposed at present so not sure if that has changed.

[davebro]

TIMES May 26

"It is understood that guidelines for indoor dining, due to be published today, will say that there will be no time limit on outdoor dining, but customers will only be able to dine indoors for an hour and 45 minutes. "

[piggynose]

So no tip!

[andy-hughes]

I would suggest that if any restaurant intends to apply that law, it needs a large and highly visible notice on one of its walls to advise its customers, underlined by a similarly large notice on its window and /or door, and a statement of the fact by the waiting staff before any order is taken.

It is unreasonable to enforce a law where it not absolutely clear that it exists, and is going to be followed.

[ladybirder]

So just guidelines then, thanks for that Dave.

[maggiebee]

Friend and I went for lunch on Thursday. Had to book and were told at that time that the limit would be an hour and a half.

[bobbinwales]

It's understandable for pubs &restraunts to want to accommodate as many as possable ar presentafter losing so much business and its common to put a time frame but it makes sense to be made clear when the booking is been made

[bobbinwales]

To be fair canary many like to pretend to be confused by even the clearest rules and guidelines and 30% of people cant do simple things like follow one way instructions or wear a mask signs

[andy-hughes]

I would duggest that such a measure - legal or advisory, is utterly futile anyway.

The virus is not time-sensitive, you are as likely to be infected in the first microsecond of contact as you are after one-hunderd-and-five minutes, or any time inbetween.

[Jackdaw33]

I don't think that infection is the issue here, it's bums on seats.

[barry1010]

I don't think it's bums on seats this time, jackdaw. The restaurant was not full and nobody was waiting for a table. Cafes and restaurants prefer people to linger as a busy eaterie is far more inviting than an empty one.

[Milo2]

My daughter booked a table and was told by the restaurant that tables could be booked for two hours so that they could manage the bookings to ensure that the table was free for the next customers.