Under the lockdown rules for his area, alcohol can only be served with a ‘substantial’ meal.

But according to Will Dalrymple, some diners are buying a meal just so they can get their drink, and not actually eating any of it.

He hit out at the level of food waste on Twitter, writing: ‘If you’re desperate to go to/support a pub, go when you’re hungry.

‘Aside from the APPALLING food waste I’ve witnessed over the last two days (scraping whole meals, untouched, into the bin because the people who bought them fancied one pint before catching the train home) you really should be actually eating in order to be able to enjoy alcoholic drinks.

‘While I can sort of see the rationale behind the rules, they’re horribly vague and put bar staff in a difficult position. Each pub will interpret the rules differently. Accept it.

‘Please don’t put pressure on staff to bend the rules/lose your temper for enforcing them (looking at you, regulars). The rules *sort of* make sense when followed correctly, but they are also quite dumb and are making things needlessly difficult for pubs. Pls help make things easier x’

In another tweet showing plates of uneaten sandwiches, Will, who didn’t reveal the area he works in, wrote: ‘DON’T GO TO THE PUB UNLESS YOU ARE HUNGRY.

‘All this food went in the bin because three people wanted two Morettis each. With everything in the news about people relying on food banks and free school meals, this is utterly obscene.’

When someone asked him why the wasted food could not be given to the homeless or a food bank, he responded: ‘That food is possibly contaminated. We couldn’t safely donate any food that had been served to customers.’

After the national lockdown ended on December 2, England returned to its system of local lockdown tiers.

While pubs and restaurants in tier three areas have to close aside from takeaways, pubs in tier two can remain open but are only allowed to serve alcohol with a substantial meal.

Some pubs have been trying to rebrand with cheap meals to encourage people to come and dine, while others which don’t have a kitchen have teamed up with local takeaways to serve food.

Others have flagged the issue of potential food waste too.

Help Lewisham Hospital, a group of volunteers, wrote on Twitter: ‘It’s understandable that people want to visit the pub now they can again, but please do your best not to contribute to food waste. If you are ordering your ‘substantial meal’ with a drink or two, please eat it and don’t let that go to waste.’