'We feel totally safe': east London drinkers savour taste of freedom

City brewer Truman's Social Club hosts dozens of high-spirited customers - in car park

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In an industrial estate on the outskirts of east London, dozens of people drank alcohol in a licensed premises for the first time in 105 days as a brewer opened the first part of what had been touted as the biggest socially distanced pub and garden" in the UK.

But to the disappointment of some of the patrons, just the car park section of the 35,000-square-ft venue in Walthamstow, Truman's Social Club, was open on Saturday - before an expected opening of the giant beer hall in August. Though whether it could have been filled remains unseen, as wind blew past people sat on picnic tables beneath the cloudy sky.