Customers to Palmers pubs will have to ‘check in’ when they open this weekend.

The Bridport brewery has launched a check in system as Government guidelines require drinkers to leave their contact details as pubs should help with NHS test and trace.

Tenanted trade director Jim Jones said: “It was clear from reading the guidelines that pubs across the country would collectively be scratching their heads trying to come up with a solution that was easy to implement, quick to use and able to cope with the tricky data protection requirements that we have in the UK.”

Customers can either log their details - first and last name, email address, phone number and which pub they are going to - on the Palmers website or scan a QR code at the door.

Mr Jones added: “Having thought things through, we were quick to realise that by making some changes to our website, we were able to accept all of the data that NHS track and trace would need, and store it securely before auto deleting it all after the required 21 days.

“With the help of our digital partners, Key Digital Agency in Dorchester, less than a day to have everything up and running, which is quite staggering given the scale of the problem.

“I have been overwhelmed with the generous feedback from our licensees to our quick and inventive solution. It looked like a potentially big banana skin to start with. Let’s remember that the Government itself just admitted defeat with its £12million test and trace app, so to come up with a fully operational fix in such a short space of time is staggering really.”