SHOPPERS have flocked to Taunton town centre as retailers have reopened their doors.

From today (June 15) non-essential shops have been allowed to let in customers, with social distancing measures in place.

Queues were seen throughout the town centres, with shops including Primark and Sports Direct drawing in large crowds.

East Street has been closed throughout the town centre, to allow people to stick to social distancing rules.

Somerset County Gazette:

Car parks owned by Somerset West and Taunton Council remain free in a bid to boost activity to in the town centre. 

Despite the large queues, results of YouGov polling carried out earlier this month suggested just 40% of people were comfortable to go back into clothes shops, and only 48% think they would be able to stay the required two metres away from other shoppers.

Some 41 per cent of people said they believe it is about the right time for the shops to reopen, but 39 per cent said it was too soon.

Somerset County Gazette:

Oliver Rowe, director of reputation research at YouGov – which carried out four surveys between June 2 and 11 on between 1,700 and 4,000 people, said the results show “there is a lot of work to be done yet to convince shoppers that it’s business as usual”.

Zoos and safari parks were also welcoming back visitors for the first time since March, places of worship can now open for private prayer while some secondary school pupils have begun returning to their classrooms.

With official figures showing the economy shrank by a fifth in April, ministers are desperate to get businesses going again to stave off another wave of job losses.

Boris Johnson acknowledged some people may be nervous about returning to the high street after so long away but insisted they “should shop and shop with confidence”.

Somerset County Gazette:

Chancellor Rishi Sunak – who is reported to be considering a VAT cut to stimulate spending – acknowledged further redundancies were inevitable as the Government’s furlough scheme begins to unwind.

Ministers are under intense pressure from Conservative MPs to go further by easing the two-metre social distancing rule so the hard-pressed hospitality sector can also reopen.