A group of “at least 100” people were seen queueing outside Sin Bar in Ipswich on Saturday night, with passers-by criticising a lack of social distancing.

%image(15163014, type="article-full", alt="A crowd of "at least 100" people were seen queueing up outside Sin in Ipswich. Picture: Stuart Wadsworth")

The scene outside the bar in Coachman’s Court was pictured by a number of people and been shared on social media.

The images have provoked anger from some who say that the gathering crowd could not have been following social distancing guidelines.

MORE: Ipswich bar ‘disappointed’ over queue pictures

Stuart Wadsworth, who was walking through the town at the time, said: “I was quite appalled to see it. We had just been for a meal for my wife’s birthday and we were just waiting for public transport to get home for the first time this year.

“We stood at the Cattle Market and it was quite shocking to see.

“I would have thought there were at least 100 people there.

“They may well be sticking to the rules inside, which is why there was such a queue outside, but none of the people there were social distancing.

“I didn’t see a single person with a mask on. It’s not just the people at the club that could be affected, it’s also all the people they then go back to which they put at risk.“

The issue has been raised just days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson delayed the relaxation of Covid-19 measures due to concerns over a rise in infections.

Johnson held a press conference after data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that between July 20 and 26 there were around 0.78 new Covid-19 infections for every 10,000 people in the community population in England.

This is equal to around 4,200 new cases per day.

This is up from an estimated 2,800 new cases a day in the previous week.

Mr Wadsworth added: “I’ve done pretty much what has been asked in terms of social distancing.

“At the end of the day it’s selfishness on their part.

“It’s not surprising that more people are getting it.

“This is one town in the UK alone - this is just Ipswich it could be going on across the UK.

“It just seems wrong that there is nothing there to stop them from doing it.”

A spokesperson for Sin said that the company did not feel the picture fairly represented the efforts they had put in to ensure the safety of their customers.

They said: “We have been made aware of a picture circulating online from the early hours of Saturday morning.

“This picture does not accurately represent the huge efforts which we made to re-open the venue, where staff and customer safety is our priority.

“We are disappointed that in the picture there appears to be a lack of social distancing in the queue, and does not accurately portray the strict measures we have in place.

“We have reduced the capacity of the venue to make sure that social distancing can take place inside, as well as having floor markings both inside and outside, and additional doormen to help limit the flow of customers into the venue.

“We have worked closely with the various authorities ahead of reopening, adapting our venue to a more bar-style environment, to ensure we comply with the government guidelines.

“We will continue to work on putting additional measures in place to ensure that there is social distancing both inside and outside the venue, as well as seek further advice from the relevant authorities.”