COVID-19: Christmas market shut down after hundreds of shoppers appear to break social distancing rules

A Christmas market in Nottingham has been shut down for the rest of the year after criticism over a lack of social distancing.

Events firm the Mellors Group, which operates the Christmas market in Old Market Square, temporarily closed the attraction on Sunday, just one day after opening, but later announced it would be closed for the rest of the year.

In a joint statement with Nottingham City Council, Mellors Group said: “Plans were in place to control access to help manage the number of people entering the site at any one time and to continually monitor this throughout Saturday.

“However, numbers were too large to implement these effectively.”

It said the city centre saw significant footfall on the first Saturday since the second national lockdown in England was lifted, and that it was “notably busier than anticipated”.

“Now that we have seen how busy the city centre was overall yesterday (Saturday), we have taken the decision not to reopen the market again at all this year.

“We know this will be very disappointing for many local people who were looking forward to visiting and for the stall holders, many of them local, for whom this was a vital opportunity to trade in what has been an incredibly difficult year.”

Pictures shared online had showed large crowds flooding Old Market Square on Saturday, with hundreds of people seemingly breaking the rules by being too close to each other.

It comes after police were forced to disperse crowds outside Harrods in London on Saturday as hundreds tried to get into the department store at once.

Nottinghamshire Police said officers were at the festive market all day to break up any large crowds in the area, as it falls in the toughest tier of coronavirus restrictions.

But Luke Brown, 24, a games designer from Nottingham, said the crowds were “crazy”, adding: “I was on the outskirts of the market as there were so many people on the inside, many people were not wearing any masks at all and there was definitely no two-metre distancing.

“I was highly uncomfortable being there so we literally went home after five minutes.”

Shoppers told Nottinghamshire Live they were “baffled” the market had been allowed to take place in the first place, given the city’s Tier 3 restrictions.

Meanwhile in London, four men were arrested for a string of offences, including affray and breaking COVID-19 regulations, as shoppers appeared to ignore social distancing rules outside Harrods.

Pictures showed large groups of young people taking selfies as they waited to be let in and officers forming a protective ring around the store to stem the flow of customers.

A Harrods spokesperson told Sky News Saturday’s incident happened outside the store and was therefore a police matter, but added: “At Harrods we have significant measures in place to ensure the absolute health and safety of our colleagues and customers inside the store.

“This includes the mandatory wearing of face coverings at all times, strict capacity limits and restrictions on groups of more than six entering, with under-18s always accompanied by an adult.

“Our security and retail teams implement these policies at entrances throughout the store.”

On Sunday, police also warned crowds gathered outside the India High Commission that they would be fined for breaking coronavirus restrictions.

Sikh Federation UK posted pictures online of big crowds in the capital as they protested against farming reforms in India.

In nearby Regent Street, shoppers were out in big numbers to make the most of the first Saturday since non-essential shops were allowed to reopen in England.

According to figures from retail analyst ShopperTrak, overall High Street footfall was down 29% on what it was on the same weekend in 2019.

Numbers were up 193% on the previous weekend, when only essential stores were open, but COVID-19 restrictions appear to have deterred people from making their usual Christmas shopping trips in person.

(c) Sky News 2020: COVID-19: Christmas market shut down after hundreds of shoppers appear to break social distancing rules