Watford’s Cineworld will keep social distancing measures in place for its auditoriums – but not throughout the venue.

The cinema chain has announced that in England it will be keeping one empty seat in between different bookings.

However, unlike in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, England’s cinemas will not continue to implement measures “across all areas within the cinema”, according to its website.

Cineworld said its decision to keep social distancing measures for its auditoriums comes amid rivals scrapping all rules.

Face masks in England's Cineworlds will also no longer be mandatory for customers or employees – although it will “encourage” both to continue wearing them and will provide face masks for its teams.

The chain said it would also be maintaining hand sanitiser stations, deep cleaning, plastic till screens and other safety measures.

The relaxation of measures follows so-called ‘freedom day’ this week – where legal rules on social distancing and other safety measures were relaxed across England.

In Watford many shoppers continued to wear face coverings while shopping - particularly inside Atria Watford shopping centre.

The majority of employees within its shops were also wearing facWate coverings with some stores keeping it as a company policy.