The Government has ordered all UK pubs and restaurants to close "as soon as they reasonably can".

Speaking at a daily Downing Street press briefing, Mr Johnson said the measures would be enforced "strictly" and that licensing arrangements would make doing so "relatively simple".

He urged people not to go out on Friday night ahead of the closures, stressing: "For now, at least physically, we need to keep people apart."

The prime minister added: "The more effectively we follow the advice we are given, the faster this country will stage both a medical and an economic recovery in full."

The leisure sector has been one of the hardest hit sectors as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak which thousands of staff working in the sector expected to be out of a job.

The Government has announced a series of measures to mitigate the impact on the leisure sector including relaxation of planning laws to enable food takeaway and delivery services and that  the government will pay 80% of wages for employees who are not working, up to £2,500 a month.

The Prime Minister said the enforced closure will be reviewed in a month’s time.