Shoppers Flock To England's Reopened High Streets As Lockdown Ends

London, Dec 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Dec, 2020 ) :Shoppers returned to England's high streets Wednesday as shops reopened following the end of a four-week coronavirus lockdown.

On a day dubbed "Wild Wednesday" because of an expectation of huge numbers of shoppers, customers wearing masks and laden with bags flocked to stores on Oxford Street in central London.

One customer, Charlotte Cobb, told AFP the latest lockdown had been "tricky" but said she was "just so happy to be back". "With Christmas, it's just brilliant," she said.

"I'm really excited." At Selfridges' flagship department store, staff greeted crowds with applause and a sequined Santa Claus danced under glittering silver disco balls as customers shopped.

Store director, Maeve Wall said it was a Christmas "like no other," and "certainly not one we would have anticipated".

"It's about making the experience as pleasurable as we can for customers, so we will maintain the fun and excitement," she added.

The easing of restrictions has come as a relief to the hard-hit retail industry.

Non-essential shops were forced to close, compounding losses made during lockdown from March to June.

But a new regional system for curbing the spread of the coronavirus is now in place, with parts of the country in the highest of three tiers still effectively shuttered.

The system -- designed to allow families and friends to gather at Christmas -- has been criticised as doing little to reinstate cherished freedoms and help the ailing economy.

Most of England's 55 million population has gone straight into Tier 2 or 3, depending on local infection rates, limiting household mixing and the reopening of the hospitality sector.

Just one percent of the country -- the southwest county of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight in the south -- are in the least restrictive Tier 1.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, himself a Covid survivor, succeeded in winning a vote on the measures in parliament on Tuesday night, despite opposition within his own Conservative ranks.