Gyms, beauticians and sport facilities given green light to reopen in Portsmouth

Outdoor swimming pools in England are to begin reopening from Saturday as the easing of the lockdown continues.

Indoor pools, gyms and other sports facilities will then be allowed to open on July 25.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has also published guidance to enable competitive grassroots team sports to resume, beginning with cricket this weekend.

Outdoor arts performances - including theatres, opera, dance and music - will also be able to resume from the weekend although audience numbers will be restricted and will be subject to social distancing rules.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said a change in planning rules will also mean theatres, concert halls and live music venues will be protected from demolition or change of use by developers, stopping those that have been made temporarily vacant during lockdown disappearing altogether.

Mr Dowden said in a statement: ‘Our culture, heritage and arts are too precious to lose. That's why we're protecting venues like theatres from redevelopment if they fall on hard times.

‘We are also giving further clarity on restart dates in our roadmap back to performance.

‘From July 11 we can all enjoy performances outdoors with social distancing and we are working hard to get indoor audiences back as soon as we safely can, following pilots.’

He also said that beauticians, tattooists and tanning salons can reopen from Monday in the latest easing of the lockdown.

He told the Downing Street press conference: ‘Having allowed hairdressers to reopen, beauticians, tattooists, spas, tanning salons and other close contact services can now do the same, I'm pleased to say, from Monday.

SEE ALSO: Coronavirus case confirmed at Gosport school

‘Of course that will be subject to some restrictions on particularly high-risk services.’

He deployed a new slogan in the coronavirus fight, saying it is now time to ‘work out to help out’.

He told the Downing Street press conference: ‘I'm really urging people to get out there and to play their part: buy the tickets for outdoor plays and musical recitals, get to your local gallery and support your local businesses.

‘Our fight began with a collective effort and I really hope it will end with one. At the beginning we all stayed at home to protect the NHS and save lives, now the British public has a new part to play. It's time to eat out to help out, to enjoy the arts to help out and to work out to help out.

‘It's over to all of you to help the country recover safely.’

Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.