HOPES for high streets to come back with a bang proved to be accurate as Basildon town centre re-opened yesterday for the first time since March.

During yesterday’s re-opening, Sports Direct, in Southernhay, saw customers queue all the way down the side of their building right up to the entrance, with staff warning shoppers at the back to expect a two hour wait.

Visitors also flocked to other popular non-essential shops such as Primark, in Basildon town centre, with lines curving round the side of the building in a U-shape before arriving back at the front of the store, leaving customers with a 20 minute wait just to get inside the shop.

Inside the store, shoppers faced 30-minute queues before arriving at the tills.

Echo:

Queues - the line for Sports Direct 

In the run-up to the re-opening, Basildon Council held a series of Zoom calls with 40 retailers across the borough.

John Hartill, store assistant at Sports Direct, said: “We were prepared for the rush, but personally I didn’t expect it to be this busy.

“We had to go to the back and warn people there’s a two hour queue which I think is mostly down to our NHS deal, We’re giving 50 per cent off to NHS workers.

“We’ve got floor stickers around the store to keep people two metres apart and we’re just making sure they’re spread out inside.

“It’s great people are wanting to shop with us, I think it brings a sense of normality back.”

Echo:

Distanced - shoppers were respectful of the 2m rule

Shopper Jackie Donovan, from Pitsea, said: “We knew it would be this bad and prepped ourselves before we came, taking our masks with us.

“We went to Santander and waited for about 30 minutes, understandably there’s a bit of a rush for the banks as they’re only letting in one person at a time.

“Primark was our second shop, the queues were actually quite long but they were at least moving. Standing in the sun for so long while we waited was the worst part.”

The 55-year-old added: “Sports Direct had such a big queue, there must’ve been a lot of people needing socks after lockdown”

Echo:

Get in line! - the queue outside the Eastgate centre looped

Angela Turnage, 63, said: “We were worried it would be like when the supermarkets had all the panic buying, but staff seemed to be organising things well. It’s just whether people stick to it.”

Queues inside Eastgate Shopping Centre were a lot shorter, with many waiting no more than five minutes to get inside their favourite shops.

Chris Watson, from Basildon, said: “I thought I’d quickly pop in HMV and just have a browse after the shops have been shut for so long; I was actually quite surprised.

“I did first think it would be really busy but it wasn’t actually too bad, there weren’t really any queues except from Primark and Sports Direct.”

The 36-year-old added: “It was absolutely rammed outside, with police and lines of people at Primark for the re-opening.

“JD was empty – you could walk straight in like everywhere else, but I couldn’t believe the amount of people trying to get into Sports Direct, I had to actually check with someone that was the right queue. I didn’t expect there to be so many people.”

Others explained how they would’ve just preferred to carry on online shopping.

A 40-year-old woman, from Basildon, added: “I would’ve liked to have carried on shopping online, it’s likely we’ll wait hours before getting inside where it’s just one person at a time.”