How Tesco, Aldi, Asda and more plan to enforce ‘rule of six’

It is now against the law to gather in group of more than six people

How Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury's & Morrisons plan to enforce strict 'rule of six' measures

The legal limit has now changed when it comes to social gatherings across England with people banned from meeting up in groups of more than six due to new Covid restrictions.

The Government’s new rules came into force today and will apply to both outdoors and indoor spaces.

This means in pubs, bars, restaurants and shops you can no longer meet up with a group of more than five friends to go shopping with.

Those caught breaking the rules face a £100 fine each time they are caught, and a fines can be increased up to £3,200.

There is concern among shoppers that the changes could lead to queues outside supermarkets again, like those we saw at the start of lockdown in March.

However, unless stores become exceptionally busy there should be no need to queue outside as supermarkets are hoping the one metre rule, which remains in place, will be enough to help people stick to social distancing guidelines.

The law on face coverings being worn in stores remains in place too.

But how will stores ensure customers stick to the Government’s new ‘rule of six’?

Speaking to MirrorOnline, a spokesman for the British Retail Consortium, an organisation which represents supermarkets, said: "New Government restrictions on group sizes will not affect the current shopping experience.

"Since the pandemic began, retailers have invested millions in social distancing measures to make stores safe for customers."

This means there won't be limits on how many people can enter a store at one time.

Like when the face covering rule came into force on July 24, supermarkets say their staff will not be policing the new rules in stores - but encourage people to abide by them.

With the number of coronavirus cases rising once again across England rules across shops are always subject to change and we will bring you the latest updates as soon as we have them.