Pubs are putting up signs instructing customers not to queue, with some saying young people are the main culprits. Elbows in, eye contact and a raise of the chin – this is the ritual of ordering a drink at a busy pub bar. But not for Generation Z , who now prefer to queue up and wait in line for their orders like they are at the post office.

Younger drinkers , many of whom first began to drink socially during the pandemic, appear to have maintained habits picked up during lockdown that were originally designed to ensure social distancing. Pictures on social media show lines of drinkers snaking back towards the back of pubs and beer halls, with the length of bars left empty..