DIY stores B&Q and Homebase have proved popular destinations this weekend having opened up to the public after weeks of full or partially closures in their stores nationwide.
Large throngs of people have spent Sunday queueing up outside newly opened shops despite polling which suggests most Brits fear a return to the their workplaces.
In the past week a number of stores have rolled their shutters up and allowed members of the public back inside.
In their number are B&Q and Homebase, which both proved popular destinations this weekend.
This week B&Q bosses decided to move away from it functioning as a click-and-collect only business to opening up all 288 outlets across the country to members of the public.
Homebase followed suit and opened all 164 branches nationwide.
The big queues despite recent polling suggest only a quarter of Brits would feel safe returning to work, with even fewer keen to visit bars and restaurants.
Photos taken today show long lines of people patiently waiting in line for their chance to tour the isles of the DIY chains.
What appears to be tentative steps towards some kind of normality took place on a day that the apprehensions of Brits were laid bare by a new poll.
Two thirds of those polled by Opinium on behalf of the Observer last week said that conditions had not been met to reopen schools, with only 17% thinking that they had.
A mere 11% of people felt restaurants should be opened while 78% were against the idea.
A tiny 7% of people wanted pubs to dust off their barrels now, compared to 84% of people content that they remain shut.
While pubs do not look likely to be making a comeback anytime soon, parts of the hospitality industry are starting to open up.
Pret a Manger has reopened 30 outlets for delivery only while Nandos, Burger King and KFC are all lifting the shutters.
Another outlet making tentative moves back to market include Wagamamas, which is to reopen its kitchens to deliver food to customers’ homes from Thursday from its kitchens in Peckham and Hackney
The concern many people have about the idea of returning to life as normal was outlined by other polls this week.
In a YouGov survey only one in four adults said they would feel safe returning to work now.
Just shy of 60% of people polled by the Sunday Express said they would not feel comfortable going out.
This morning Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that it was unlikely that the country would return to normal anytime soon.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “I don’t think we should expect us to go from this situation that we have at the moment of social distancing back to where we were in February – that’s clearly not going to happen and I don’t think anyone imagines that for one moment.”
Boris Johnson is expected to lay out a road map for the country’s exit from lockdown on Thursday.
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READ MORE FROM SOURCE: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/big-queues-form-bq-despite-21966798
