Gin makers who supplied hand sanitiser to Barts Health NHS Trust when the pandemic emergency began have been asked by the Museum of London if it can add their "Gin-tizer" to its collection.

The 58 Gin distillery in Shoreditch switched production to sanitisers in March last year to supply key workers and care homes.

East London Advertiser: Distillery boss Carmen O'Neal... switched to sanitisers to help NHS, Met Police and care homesDistillery boss Carmen O'Neal... switched to sanitisers to help NHS, Met Police and care homes (Image: 58 Gin)

“We were overwhelmed when the museum approached us," 58 Gin's boss Carmen O'Neal told the East London Advertiser. “We produced sanitisers to help key workers, but it also gave us a lifeline to keep jobs going."

They produced 3,000 bottles, then got a contract to supply the Met Police and have since turned out 50,000 for hospitals and Marie Curie hospices as well.

Museum curator Beatrice Behlen said: “This preserves for the future the work by companies in their resilience during the pandemic and the role sanitizers came to play in people’s lives.”

East London Advertiser: East London gin distillery switched to sanitisers when Covid emergency began in March 2020East London gin distillery switched to sanitisers when Covid emergency began in March 2020 (Image: MPS)

The museum, famous for displaying the Whitechapel sewer "fatberg" discovered three years ago under the Whitechapel Road, is collecting objects reflecting people's lives during the pandemic.