Bowling alleys, beauty salons, casinos and soft play areas reopen as lockdown measures are eased in England

FAMILIES hit the lanes today as bowling alleys finally reopened after being closed for five months amid the coronavirus crisis.

Music venues, casinos, comedy clubs, ice rinks, soft play area and theatres also threw open their doors as restrictions were lifted in towns and cities across the country.

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Facial treatments at beauty salons are also allowed and people can finally get their eyebrows done after months of waiting.

Wedding receptions - with up to 30 guests - can also take place from this weekend.

And at Newcastle's Lane7 families started queuing for bowling before the doors opened to make sure they could join in the fun.

Hollywood Bowl said that 48 of its 61 sites reopened today with reduced numbers of lanes and groups restricted to a maximum of six people.

Chief executive Stephen Burns said: "We've been ready to reopen in the fully Government-approved Covid-secure way for many weeks and our trained teams are eager to get back to work.

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"Our centres are spacious and well-suited for social distancing, and we've put in place wide-ranging hygiene and sanitisation measures."

Elsewhere, casinos were busy working to ensure their gambling halls were safe ahead of welcoming their first customers in months.

Other beauty services such as hairdressers, nail bars and pedicures were already available from last month.

But close contact services such as eyebrow threading and eyelash extensions were delayed until now.

Alice Bellamy, 67, from Calne in Wiltshire, runs specialist laser hair removal studio called Woman to Woman & The Male Perspective Ltd.

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She said: "I am overjoyed and so are my clients, my phone has been hot, hot, hot.

"I have booked in a facial treatment on Saturday morning already and I have got lots more coming in the next week that I couldn't do previously."

Face coverings are required in: casinos, skating rinks, bowling alleys, indoor play areas, exhibition halls and conference centres.

Most businesses were able to reopen in July - including hairdressers, gyms and pubs - but a handful of indoor venues were scheduled to reopen on August 1.

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Hopes of flinging open their doors again were dashed when Boris Johnson said the UK needed to pause reopening as multiple cities went into local lockdowns.

Football fans will be able to return to stadiums next month - but might not be able to sing.

Grosvenor and Genting casinos both said they had been looking forward to opening up shop for weeks.

A Genting spokesman said it will be limiting numbers at all its venues to ensure social distancing and visors and masks will be available for staff and customers.

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He added: "This is what we have been building towards for some time now, and the delays we have experienced have of course been hugely frustrating and damaging to the business.

"The reopening is therefore incredibly exciting for all involved and we cannot wait to welcome customers back into our casinos."

Grosvenor Casinos said it was reopening 35 of its 52 casinos in England.

It said its coronavirus safety measures include a numbers cap, voluntary PPE and face coverings for guests and staff, hand sanitiser stations, and screens available on gaming tables and machines.

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At the end of July, Mr Johnson said: "With those (case) numbers creeping up, our assessment is that we should now squeeze that brake pedal in order to keep the virus under control.

"We must keep our focus and we can't be complacent."

Since then there have been a number of local lockdowns after spikes in Covid-19 infections.

Indoor gatherings were banned in Leicester, Greater Manchester, Preston, parts of east Lancashire and West Yorkshire.

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Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has asked Matt Hancock to keep those venues closed in areas under local lockdown restrictions.

He said on Friday: "The first thing that we've said to the Health Secretary is that we don't believe that it would be right to see the further relaxation with regard to the opening of a range of additional business premises this weekend or in the near future."