Weekend shoppers head to Portsmouth's Commercial Road as if 'everything has gone back to normal'
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Crowds gathered along the high street to enjoy the first weekend of retailers welcoming back customers to non-essential shops.
With retailers experiencing steady footfall, shoppers reported people failing to maintain social distancing inside stores – and even people colliding in the busy thoroughfare outside.
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Hide AdBernadette Carter, who traveled from High Wycombe to visit the seafront, said: ‘It’s not like this where we come from – there are big queues everywhere.
‘I have avoided going out shopping.
‘There’s good social distancing outside the shops – but inside, it feels like everything has gone back to normal.’
But others said social distancing along the high street was beginning to break down – with people bumping into each other.
Portsmouth resident Jane Taylor, 41, said: ‘If people have a mask on they walk straight into you.
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Hide Ad‘They are oblivious. It’s happened to me about three times today. But I thought it would be busier today.’
The number of people along the high street left one shopper wishing that stores had remained close.
Portsea-resident Jackie Jestins, 68, said: ‘They should shut the shops. It was nice coming here when no-one was about.