Pubs across England started pulling pints at 6am on Saturday, with thirsty customers returning to their regular haunts after more than 100 days in lockdown.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has introduced the biggest easing of the lockdown since it was imposed on March 23, urged his countrymen not to “blow it”, while the health secretary, Matt Hancock, warned “drunken thugs” more used to propping up bars “could end up behind bars if you break the law”.

Hancock also said he would not “shirk” from shutting pubs and restaurants again, and imposing local lockdowns if needed.

He stressed: “I’m no killjoy, but the virus can still kill. I don’t want to see bars and pubs have to close again. I love going to the pub and enjoy a pint or two.”

Pubs are a quintessential part of old England. In fact, for many, a pint in your local represents the very elixir of life. Buying beer from your off licence and drinking in front of the telly is not the same thing.

At The Shropshire Arms in Cheshire, Bert Lockley, a regular, wasn’t being disrespectful to his ex-wife as he sipped his first pint of draught Guinness and murmured: “Heaven! I’ve missed this more than my missus when she left. You can drink at home but you can’t get this feeling anywhere else.”

Another drinker, Frank Green, sipped a pint of lager and said: “I was up early. It’s been 12 weeks since I’ve been able to come here. This is my local. It’s not the drink, it’s the banter with everyone else.”

At the Toll Gate Wetherspoons pub in Turnpike Lane, north London, Andrew Slawinski, 54, who bought a Guinness, described his first pint in three months as “gorgeous”.

“It’s like winning the (Premier) League,” he enthused.

The chancellor Rishi Sunak, who does not count hard drinking among his many accomplishments, made a dutiful call on The Bell & Crown in Chiswick, west London, where he said: “The hospitality sector is a vital part of our economy and crucial to people’s livelihoods — Britain’s pubs and bars alone employ almost half a million people — which is why it’s such good news that so many people are able to return to work this weekend, helping us all to enjoy summer safely.”

It is not known if this calculation was done by someone when sober but it was estimated that drinkers were set to sink a staggering 15 million pints at 23,000 establishments across England on what was hailed as “Super-Saturday”.

Restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and barbers, places of worship, cinemas and libraries were also allowed to open on Saturday.

Weddings with up to 30 people were given the green light as well.

But it is the opening of pubs that appeared to be making the biggest psychological difference in lightening the mood of the people in England – Scotland and Wales have yet to relax the rules.

Some landlords have cannily marked up the price of beer. The popular Taddy Lager at the Samuel Smith pubs has shot up from £2.30 to £3.40 per pint while Sovereign Bitter has risen from £2.04 to £3.04.

Some police forces, such as Cornwall and Devon, have said drinkers have a two-hour limit in the pub.