Coronavirus: Wakefield shop sees 'three customers in a week'

A business owner said he only had three customers through the door of his shop in the past week after the street was closed to encourage social distancing.

Neil Sly said footfall had been "non-existent" since Northgate in Wakefield was closed to traffic.

A temporary pedestrian area has been introduced intended to create a "café culture" by allowing extra space for outdoor seating.

Wakefield Council said footfall is down across the whole country.

Mr Sly, who runs Body Balance Supplements, said: "I've been open for three weeks and trade has been non-existent.

"The last seven days I've had three customers.

"If you look outside it is completely dead, there's no-one about because there's no traffic flowing through.

"The traffic has been diverted out of town, so it's actually stopping people coming into town and it's going to have a knock on effect for the rest of town as well."

When asked about the closure of Northgate, councillor Darren Byford said: "Footfall is down across the whole country.

"There's very few places where footfall is above 40% of what it was.

"We're trying to encourage people back into the town centre. We've tried to give people space to give them that opportunity to feel safe when they come back into Wakefield."

The latest figures show UK high streets have seen a recent moderate increase in footfall to about 50% of the level seen this time last year.

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