Sunderland street food event cancelled after concerns over social distancing

Four street food vendors, Truly Madly Pizza, The Calabash Tree, Mivesi and Brioche Burgs, as well as a coffee stall, had been due to take up spaced-out pitches in the car park of The Roker Hotel on Sunday, January 17, selling food for takeaway only.

The outdoor event was aimed at people passing on their daily walks, and there were to be barriers in placed to help ensure social distancing.

However, although some were in support of the event, others voiced their concerns over whether it would encourage people to congregate.

Taking on board people’s worries, the hotel and traders have since decided to cancel the event.

A statement on the hotel’s Facebook page reads: “In light of listening to your feedback, we’ve made the decision to postpone the Sunday Street Food vendors from using our car park.

"Whilst we were confident in our ability to run a socially distanced space, our priority is, of course, keeping you all safe and we wouldn’t want to do anything that could jeopardise this.

"We just wanted to say thanks to those who were supportive and those who were constructive in their feedback.

"The team at the Roker Hotel, Poetic License Bar and Let There Be Crumbs wanted to wish you all the best, and we hope to see you all as soon as we can.”

Although traders are permitted to serve takeaway food within Lockdown restrictions, people are advised to only leave the house for essential purposes and exercise.

After covid cases worsened, and with concerns the full impact of households mixing at Christmas is still to be felt, Ministers and experts have been ramping up the stay at home message.

Businesses have been responding to the severity of the situation, with supermarkets announcing this week they would enforce strict mask-wearing policies for customers.

Non-essential shops are allowed to offer click-and-collect services, but John Lewis said it was suspending this service at its department stores after a ‘change in tone’ from the Government over the virus.

There have been calls for even tougher restrictions, though Ministers have said they would prefer to see people sticking more strictly to the rules already in place, with warnings lockdown breachers will now be more likely to face fines if caught by police.

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest on SAFC and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.