Doncaster shoppers flock back as figures say streets are busier than pre-lockdown

Doncaster’s streets are busier than pre-lockdown, with shoppers returning to the town centre in droves, new figures have revealed.
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Footfall in the town centre is now higher than before restrictions were first introduced in March, according to the study which also said that seaside resorts are seeing increased numbers of people than before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed.

It said that Blackpool, Bournemouth and Southend were among the areas becoming busy with shoppers, workers and tourists again.

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Data reveals Doncaster, along with Birkenhead, Basildon and Chatham have all seen higher levels of footfall over the past week than before restrictions were imposed in March.

Doncaster's shopping streets are busier than pre-lockdown, according to figures.Doncaster's shopping streets are busier than pre-lockdown, according to figures.
Doncaster's shopping streets are busier than pre-lockdown, according to figures.

But footfall levels in London are still only just a quarter of what they were ahead of lockdown - the lowest of any UK town or city - while they also remain under half in Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Oxford and Manchester.

The footfall league tables were revealed in an interactive map published by the Centre for Cities think tank, which also found only 17 per cent of workers in British cities had returned to their workplaces by early August.

It comes as official figures showed high streets in the country are rebounding at a slower rate than shopping centres and some of Britain's top business leaders fear UK commercial centres could become permanent 'ghost towns’ if office workers don’t return.

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Centre for Cities said the data from earlier this month, based on mobile phone signals, showed no increase in the footfall of workers going to city centres between late June and the week starting August 3.

Footfall in town and city centre streets has stagnated in recent weeks, while out-of town retail parks and urban shopping centres are slowly moving back towards their original footfall, the Office for National Statistics said.

The ONS also found 13 per cent of workers are still on paid furlough, with almost one in four (39 per cent) of companies topping up their wages. The ONS measured footfall compared with the same day of the week in 2019.