Is it legal for pubs to sell alcohol in takeaway plastic milk bottles?

These queries were sent in by Samir Patel who also asked: How is this off-sale business legal from non off-licence premises?

“Wouldn’t that be unfair to the off-licence stores around? Wouldn’t this set a precedent? If such situation arises in future, can off-licensed shops be allowed to act as pub without going through the formal process of applying and consultations?”

There is a great deal of confusion on the subject. I think different councils may react differently. I also saw a story in the Sunday Times about a pub in Cirencester. The pic clearly shows a long queue of people socially distancing to get a ‘pandemic pint’.

Another story tells about a pub in Hackney in east London doing home delivery. The Star was one of a wave of pubs flogging beer in the merry month of May, as sunny weather coincided with an easing of lockdown measures.

If you think about it, people taking a plastic bottle to a pub is actually an on-sale. Where they drink the stuff is neither here nor there.

But no, it certainly wouldn’t work the other way around.

I put this point to Samir and learned that the pub which prompted the question in the first place is actually licensed to sell both on and off-trade, so it was no longer an issue with the retailer.