A 9pm restriction on alcohol sales in stores could help prevent the public breaking coronavirus restrictions, the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has suggested.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on 28 September, Burnham called for an urgent review of the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants that was put into place on 24 September. The curfew faced major criticism after mass crowds were seen gathered together after pubs and restaurants had shut.

Burnham claimed pubgoers in Manchester had rushed to supermarkets to buy alcohol on 26 September after 10pm. He said: “If there was a 9pm curfew on the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and shops, that would prevent a rush to the shops once the pubs have closed. That’s certainly what we saw on Saturday. It wasn’t just Manchester. It would have been around the country.

“There needs to be an urgent review. This curfew is doing more harm than good. It creates an incentive for people to gather in the streets and the home. I don’t think it has been fully thought through.”