Pizza Express will reopen 46 restaurants on July 6 with digital menus and online payment - while a further 23 will open for takeaway only

• Chain will offer delivery and click and collect at 23 of its pizzerias from July 2
• Social distancing will be in place at restaurants allowing customers to dine in
• Group will also introduce digital menus, online payment and sanitation stations
• It follows Boris Johnson allowing restaurants in England to re-open from July 4

Pizza Express will reopen 46 of its restaurants on July 6 with digital menus and online payment - while a further 23 will be open for takeaway only.

The chain will offer delivery and click-and-collect at 23 of its pizzerias from July 2, alongside 13 sites across the capital city that are already open.

Social distancing measures will be put in place at the 46 restaurants allowing customers to dine-in, including Abbey Road and Bankside in London, with digital menus, online payment and hand sanitiser stations.

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Pizza Express will reopen 46 of its restaurants on July 6 with digital menus and online payment - while a further 23 will be open for takeaway only (file photo of chain's Muswell Hill branch)

Managing Director Zoe Bowley said: 'Our top priority is to protect the safety and well-being of our teams and customers.

'The extensive safety measures we have in place across all reopened pizzerias will allow us to provide the full Pizza Express experience that our customers have come to love, in a safe and responsible way, as we work to gradually bring back our freshly handmade pizza to even more locations in the near future.'

Throughout lockdown the group has been sharing weekly recipes to bake from home for its popular dishes, including dough balls, fiorentina, vegan mezze calzone and pollo pesto.

The announcement follows Boris Johnson yesterday announcing the relaxation of several coronavirus restrictions.  

The Prime Minister said he wanted to 'make life easier' after an 'incredibly tough time' for people all over the country and revealed that bars, restaurants, cinemas and hairdressers in England will be able to get back up and running from July 4. 

He said the social distancing rule is being halved to 'one metre plus' to free up thousands of business, with precautions such as face masks deployed to make sure the risks of transmission stay 'broadly' the same. 

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Throughout lockdown the group has been sharing weekly recipes to bake from home for its popular dishes, including dough balls, fiorentina and vegan mezze calzone (file photo)

Two households will also be able to gather indoors, meaning families will be able to reunite for the first time in months - although social distancing rules are still in place.

Other relaxations of rules include the resumption of church and other religious services, including wedding ceremonies for up to 30 people, though there is a ban on singing as it poses a 'particular' threat of spread.

But nail bars, gyms and swimming pools will remain off limits and even the relaxed restrictions will come with strings attached, as social distancing measures are still in place and encouraged by Mr Johnson and his advisers.