Hollywood Bowl confirms reopening at Bentley Bridge and Shrewsbury

Fifty-three centres across the country, including at Bentley Bridge in Wednesfield and an AMF Bowling centre in Shrewsbury, will welcome back customers for the first time since lockdown restrictions began in March.

It follows the TBPA and Hollywood Bowl #BringBackBowling campaign – designed to protect the 8,000 ten pin bowling industry-wide jobs by calling on the Government to allow bowling alleys to reopen.

Stephen Burns, chief executive at Hollywood Bowl Group said: “Whilst it’s a little later than originally planned, we’re delighted to finally be able to open our centres again in England from August 1.

“The health and safety of our customers and team remains our priority. Whether it’s to bowl, enjoy the amusement areas, have a bite to eat or something to drink, we want to assure our customers that we are doing everything we can to create a safe and fun experience for families to return to. We look forward to welcoming them back through our doors.”

More Covid-19 coverage:

• Updates from across the Black Country & Staffordshire

• Updates from across Shropshire & Mid Wales

The reopening of centres in England will see the introduction of enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures, with customer guidance throughout the centres also in place. Each centre will reduce the number of lanes in use, by only using alternate lanes, to provide extra space between each game taking place. Amusement machines, as well as bar and diner seating, will be appropriately spaced out and signage will be visible throughout the venue to remind customers to maintain a safe distance from others.

There will be reduced customer capacity at centres to ensure that social distancing measures can be adhered to, and groups will be restricted to a maximum of six people with bowlers asked to arrive slightly ahead of their booking time. Customers may also be required to queue when entering the centre and checking in for their games.

Customers will be given the option of wearing disposable gloves whilst aiming for a strike and playing on the amusement areas and should wear their own shoes whilst bowling.

Upon entering the centre, visitors will be expected to use hand sanitiser, which will be readily available at cleaning stations. Enhanced cleaning will take place throughout the day, including the cleaning of bowling balls, lane seating and touch screens after every game.