THE VAST majority of Oxford Mail readers have said they have no plans to go shopping on Monday at the Westgate Centre or anywhere else.

If all goes to plan then non-essential retailers will be given the green-light to open to the public on June 15, more than two months after the country was forced into lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus.

However shoppers at the Westgate, the largest shopping centre in Oxford, have been warned that things will be very different when they head back to their favourite stores – with security guards patrolling the building and keeping an eye on the crowds.

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People will only be allowed to walk in one direction around the centre, with stickers on the floor reminding them to stay two metres apart.

Oxford Mail:

Unless the Government backtracks on the plans then all 125 shops at the Westgate Centre are likely to start reopening next week.

This could prompt large crowds, which is against government rules, so as with supermarkets queues will be made to tail around the building and only a specific number of people will be allowed inside at once.

Staff will also be given masks and gloves and hand sanitiser stations will be propped up around the building.

But even with the new safety features, Oxford Mail readers have said they won’t be rushing back.

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Out of more than 560 people who voted in an online poll yesterday, 42 per cent said they did not plan to go shopping on Monday because they did not want to buy anything.

Another 37 per cent said they didn’t want to ‘risk it’.

Only 111 people said they couldn’t wait to browse the shops again but on Facebook more than 150 people said there was ‘no chance’ they would be walking into town.

One man said: “It’s a really silly idea to open non-essentials when all non-essentials can be ordered online.”

Oxford Mail:

Yesterday there were already signs of life in shops at the Westgate.

Staff were spotted busily preparing for reopening at Goldsmiths jewellers, Hotel Chocolat, Zara and Urban Outfitters – which was one of the first high street giants to close its doors back in March.

Cleaners were also back working full-time, having previously been reduced to part-time hours at the start of lockdown.

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One shopper at the centre said: “I’m not worried about safety – they clearly have people keeping it all as clean as possible – I just wonder whether it will be worth the hassle, having to go around a one-way system, queue to get in shops and then try to keep two metres away from everyone all the time.

“There are other places you can go shopping in Oxford where it would be easier and less worry.”

Oxford Mail:

When shops closed at the end of March hundreds of retail jobs were thrown into uncertainty.

Workers at popular shops and usually busy stores were put on the government’s Furlough scheme to avoid being laid off for good but with question marks over when they would be able to return.

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In another poll yesterday, more than half of retail workers in the city said they were not happy that shops are reopening.

Out of the 103 votes cast in our poll at the time of print, 36 per cent agreed it would be hard to work, control crowds and stay safe.