Weekend shoppers head to Portsmouth's Commercial Road as if 'everything has gone back to normal'

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.

Bernadette 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.

‘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.’

Traders 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.’

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