With non-essential retail due to reopen, Angela Crawley MP has urged her constituents to shop local and help small business recover from coronavirus.
Shops that have been only open to offer click-and-collect will now be permitted to reopen from Monday 26th April as part of the route map out of lockdown.
Shoppers are asked to continue to follow strict public health advice, including staying two metres from anyone outside their household, wearing a facemask and maintaining good hand hygiene.
Ms Crawley said: “The public health crisis has hit our economy hard as lockdown restrictions forced most of our high street stores to close.
“However, thanks to the efforts of the public at large and the vaccine, we are now in a position reopen some of our economy and move from responding to the pandemic to recovering from it.
“I know our shop owners have done tremendous work in getting their premises ready to open with the safety of staff and customers in mind.
“I have seen lots of work taking place to provide screens, social distancing signs, hand sanitisers, contactless payments, delivery systems, new one-way systems and barriers, as well as making physical changes to premises – I wish each of them well they reopen.
“It is important to remember that this crisis has the potential to accelerate some of the structural changes that were taking place before lockdown, including the switch from high street to online shopping.
“If that trend continues, more businesses will close, and more people will lose their jobs.
“It has never been more important to shop local and give our high streets and town centres the opportunity to flourish again.”