UPDATE 4-Beaches beckon as England to end quarantine for more than 50 countries

* England ditches quarantine for 50 countries

* Travel to open to Germany, France, Spain and Italy

* United States on England's "red list"
(Adds United States on "red list")

By William James and Costas Pitas

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Britain will end coronavirus
quarantines for people arriving in England from more than 50
countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy - but not
the United States - the British government said on Friday.

The move, effective July 10, clears the way for millions of
British tourists to take summer holidays without worrying about
being quarantined when they return. Those arriving from higher
risk countries will still have to self-quarantine for 14 days
under a rule which has angered airlines and travel companies.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government had debated for
days how to ease the quarantine rules. Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland, which set their own health policies within the
United Kingdom, have not announced plans to lift the measures.

"There will be a list of 50 plus countries and if you add in
the overseas territories, 60 something or other that we will
publish later today," Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.

"Today marks the next step in carefully reopening our great
nation," he said.

As the spread of the novel coronavirus slows in Europe,
countries are reopening travel after more than three months of
lockdown.

The full list of countries has not yet been published. New
Zealand is included, as are the Vatican and Britain's overseas
territories such as the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar. The
United States remains on the "red list".

"The U.S. from a very early stage banned flights from the UK
and from Europe so there isn't a reciprocal arrangement in
place," Shapps said.

Britain's foreign ministry will also set out exemptions from
a global advisory against "all but essential" international
travel, from July 4, a key to normal insurance being valid.

The government said it expected countries included on the
quarantine-free list to reciprocate by relaxing their own
restrictions.

The move to ditch the quarantine comes as England's High
Court is due to hear a legal challenge by British Airways
, backed by low-cost rivals Ryanair and easyJet
. They argue the quarantine had no scientific basis and
was unworkable.

Britain, with the highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe, is
slowly reopening its economy. England and Northern Ireland will
reopen pubs this weekend, and Scotland and Wales are expected to
follow later in July.

Johnson has warned people to maintain social distancing
rules and is expected to repeat that caution at a news
conference on Friday.

"Anyone who flouts social distancing and COVID-secure rules
is not only putting us all at risk but letting down those
businesses and workers who have done so much to prepare for this
new normal," he will say.
(Additional reporting by Kate Holton, William Schomberg and
Michael Holden; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge;
Editing by Alexander Smith and Peter Graff)