A CHESHIRE pub entrepreneur has branded the idea of needing a vaccine passport to have a pint in your local as 'ridiculous'.

Tim Bird, who owns Cheshire Cat Pub and Bars with his wife Mary Mclaughlin, said the suggestion was the latest in a line of ridiculous government ideas with regards to the hospitality sector.

Speaking in the Commons earlier this week, the Prime Minister told MPs that it 'may be up to the landlord' to decide whether to enforce such a move.

He added: “The concept of vaccine certification should not be totally alien to us.”

Boris Johnson had previously rejected the idea that vaccine passports may be needed in pubs and last night Tory MPs slammed the idea of having to show “papers for the pub”.

But according to Government sources, pubs, bars and restaurants could be allowed to set their own rules under a review being led by Michael Gove due next month.

Speaking to a committee of MPs on Wednesday, the Prime Minister hinted that the decision could be made by individual businesses.

He said: “I think that’s the kind of thing that may be up to individual publicans.

"It may be up to the landlord."

However, Mr Bird, who owns several pubs across Cheshire, including three in Mobberley, one in Allostock, another on Lord Cholmondeley’s estate and one more in Staffordshire, said the hospitality industry needs to rebuff the proposal.

He said: "I am not sure why they make such ridiculous suggestions without consulting with the hospitality industry beforehand

"First we had ‘the curfews’ then we had the ‘substantial meal’ fiasco all due to no consultation, now we have this suggestion.

"The hospitality industry need to rebuff this proposal without hesitation."

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: "It’s crucial that visiting the pub and other parts of hospitality should not be subject to mandatory vaccination certification.

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

"Through the success of the vaccine rollout we need to throw off the shackles of coronavirus in line with the Government’s roadmap, not impose more checks on our ability to socialise and do business."