Thousands of excited Meadowhall shoppers stick to new 'rules of the road'

Scores of staff helped excited visitors stick to the rules of the road after 116 shopes reopened at the mega-mall.

Boss Darren Pearce said the new restrictions, which include ‘traffic lights’ indicating whether stores are full, had not sparked conflicts, even at Primark which had the biggest queues.

And speculation about people camping out and massive crowds had not materialised.

On average, 2,500 people were in the centre at any one time, well below the new maximum of 5,000, and far less than the normal 10,000 total capacity, he added.

“It’s like a motorway with rules of the road. It was quite nice to see the regimented flows around the centre and the crossover points. We are all coming to grips with this new world.”

Some 40 per cent of seating, including fabric sofas, have been removed, he added. Families can share a bench but otherwise only two people are allowed on.

And the Oasis food court, which is normally bustling with hundreds of people, is largely taped off. All trays have been removed, the seats covered and just five outlets are open serving takeaway food.

Mr Pearce added: “It’s been a great start. The most important thing has been returning staff, retailers and customers back to a safe environment. We put a plan in place that followed government guidelines to give everyone confidence. The biggest driver has been managing social distancing but we can control all the numbers so everything went to plan.”

By the end of the week 130 shops will be open, he added. But they comprise 80 per cent of the space because of the size of stores such as M&S, Debenhams Frasers and Next.

British Land bosses have been in talks about rent holidays and retailers had been helped by a reduction in service charges, Mr Pearce said.

But there were fewer empty units than the headlines might suggest. Chains including Debenhams, Victoria’s Secret and Carluccios are in financial difficulty but their Meadowhall outlets would survive because they were doing well.

“We haven’t suffered anywhere near the level of casualties as some might think.”

Restrictions on seating are set to be lifted further on June 22 and it is expected restaurants will be allowed to reopen on July 4, he added.

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