JD Wetherspoon has refused to say if punters will need Covid passports to enter its Watford pubs after the Government unveiled the plan this week. 

Boris Johnson revealed “Covid vaccine certification” could be required for people to enter pubs while being questioned by senior MPs on Wednesday. 

He confirmed it “may be up to the individual publican” to decide, adding “the concept of vaccine certification should not be totally alien to us”.

Wetherspoon has two pubs in Watford – The Moon Under Water and Colombia Press – as well as The Pennsylvanian in Rickmansworth. 

Watford Observer: Wetherspoon's The Moon Under Water pub in WatfordWetherspoon's The Moon Under Water pub in Watford (Image: Google Street View)

When asked by the Observer whether it would rule out needing Covid certificates in those pubs, a spokesman said it had decided not to comment. 

But another of the UK’s major chains, Greene King, which owns Watford boozers the Estcourt Tavern and Tudor Arms, has criticised the plans.

Its CEO Nick Mackenzie told the PA news agency: "Barring entry to customers who haven't had a vaccine would be totally unworkable, add significant cost and make pubs unviable at a time when the industry is planning to start to rebuild.

"Such a move would be impractical, could be discriminatory and it's unacceptable for our team members, half of whom are under 25, to have to police these measures and deal with the fallout from the significant number of customers who won't have received a vaccine."

The Government’s plan has divided opinion locally – with many pub-goers taking to social media to question how realistic it would be to enforce.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, also branded the idea “simply unworkable”. 

"It's crucial that visiting the pub and other parts of hospitality should not be subject to mandatory vaccination certification,” she told Sky News. 

"It is simply unworkable, would cause conflict between staff and customers and almost certainty result in breaches of equality rules."