Customers of Ye Olde Swan pub in Brightlingsea High Street – where publican Stuart Richardson tested positive for Covid-19 – do not need to self isolate, the pub has said.

Mr Richardson had a positive result last week after voluntarily taking part in a random survey by Imperial College London. Despite showing no symptoms, he is isolating from his wife, Angela, and daughter Molly who have also been tested negative.

A statement published on the pub’s Facebook page on Monday (October 5) said: “The NHS track and trace team have been in contact with us over the past few hours. We can confirm that after an extensive conversation and the team analysing our risk assessment, the team are happy for me to confirm that our pub is a minimal risk zone. This means that no customers need to self-isolate.”

The statement added: “After going through our risk assessment and trial runs of customers being in our pub, they are more than satisfied with the minimal contact people have had with us and our staff. It’s proven to show that all the hard work and restrictions that mum and dad put in place has protected our customers, something that was always their goal.”

For advice on Covid 19, see the NHS Covid-19 website.