Footfall down at Merry Hill in wake of coronavirus
It’s normally packed to the rafters but shoppers are few and far between at Merry Hill as coronavirus grips the nation and forces people into self-isolation.
This drone image shows the usually full car parks centre at Brierley Hill looking eerily quiet on a Friday afternoon.
Merry Hill bosses admitted the centre had witnessed a drop in footfall over the past few days.
The shopping centre has been operating normal opening hours on weekdays [9am to 9pm], however most shops have reduced their hours down to 10am to 7pm.
A spokesman said: “We continue to follow the official guidance from the Government and Public Health England carefully and are monitoring the situation closely. Naturally, the health and well-being of all our visitors and staff is our absolute priority and we are doing everything we can to support them through these unprecedented times.
“While we have seen some reduction in visitor footfall over the past few days, intu Merry Hill is open as usual.
"However, in light of the latest government advice and in consultation with our brands, we have adjusted our centre opening hours to allow individual retailers, restaurants and leisure facilities to reduce their opening hours.
"We are focused on supporting the brands that operate in our centres by providing them with greater flexibility, whilst also serving our communities and ensuring people have access to vital services and essential items.
"These are unprecedented circumstances and we are doing our best to operate key services in a safe and sensible way.
"Precautionary measures are in place across all our sites and we would encourage everyone to use the hand sanitisers and cleansing wipe stations that have been installed throughout our centres.
"We’re also deep cleaning high footfall areas much more regularly."
