Scientists have revealed the rules British pubs must follow when re-opening on July 4.

Customers must stand back-to-back and order remotely, sitting at tables with only members of your family.

Perspex screens at the bar are also being touted by scientists, and outdoor service while the weather is warm.

The suggestions were made at a Science Media Centre and Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) briefing on Wednesday, June 3.

Catherine Noakes, a professor of environmental engineering for buildings at Leeds University, and chairwoman of the Government's Sage Environmental Working Group, said outdoor transmission is believed to pose "a much much lower risk, so any operations which can move outdoors temporarily is a really good starting point".

She added: "I think it is worth thinking about being creative about how you design spaces, because the highest risks are where people are face-to-face and therefore have a direct exposure to the immediate (virus) droplets and aerosols.

"Studies show that can go up to two metres, so that is a difficult one and obviously if you have got a mask on you can't drink your beer.

Having a pint of beer at your local pub is something to look forward to

"Perhaps think about how you arrange spaces so that not everyone is face-to-face, you have got people back-to-back, you have got partitions in some of these spaces.

"Ventilation is probably a challenge. It is not an easy and quick solution because many buildings do have poor ventilation."

Prof Noakes said: "Transmission happens when somebody is in prolonged contact (with someone else), so if you can reduce the amount of time bar staff are, for example, spending with people, then that will help.

"There are about one in 500 people who are thought to be infected, and if you start to think about a crowded pub, you very easily are going to have a probability of having someone who is infected in that pub.

Twelve pubs in Tamworth were targeted

"As the number of cases in the community drop your risks start to become much lower, and hopefully we get to a point where there is such a small number of cases and hopefully with an effective track and trace system in place that it means the measures are less important."