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.
‘I’ve been getting anxious – it feels quiet aggressive the way some people are shopping.’
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Hide AdTraders disagreed – with one saying the reaction to the pandemic was ‘overblown’.
Ray Micklefield, who runs an e-cigarette stall, said the market should never have been stopped: ‘People are scared – but I’m not scared one little bit.
‘I think it’s been blown out of proportion.’
Shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic would take some getting used to, according to Megan Allen, a customer service officer guiding shoppers to queue for the Cascades Shopping Centre.
She said: ‘We have been really busy.
‘The problem is people still want to walk in whatever direction they like when they are inside, instead of sticking to the one-systems.
‘It does take a bit of getting used to.’