Pubs around Basingstoke near empty over Covid-19 clampdown

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered all pubs, restaurants, leisure centres and museums to shut temporarily while the country braces itself for the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Basingstoke tonight, the streets were nearly entirely empty - save for a handful of revellers. 

One man, spotted out and about in the Top of Town, wore a surgical mask for protection.

Meanwhile, one contentious pub-goer donned a gas mask while enjoying a pint at The Bounty Inn. 

But the majority of bars and restaurants had closed, including nightclub Fever which until the last minute pledged to remain open.

McDonalds, normally awash with late-night town goers on a Friday night in search of food, was eerily quiet. 

At its windows, a sign simply reading 'Open for takeaway only' with no customers in sight.

At his daily Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson acknowledged the ban – which also covers betting shops and casinos – went against “the freedom-loving instincts of the British people”.

But he said the measures were needed to achieve the 75% reduction in “unnecessary” social gatherings required to have an impact on the infection rate.

“We are going to defeat this disease with a huge national effort to slow the spread by reducing unnecessary social contact,” he said.

“By your actions, your restraint and your sacrifice, we are putting this country in a better and stronger position, where we will be able to save literally thousands of lives, of people of all ages, people who don’t deserve to die now.”