Plea for theme park to reopen as lockdown restictions end

MERLIN Entertainments wants Alton Towers to be able to reopen alongside non-essential retailers when lockdown restrictions ease.

When the second national coronavirus lockdown came to an end shortly before Christmas, indoor entertainment venues were forced to stay closed.

But Merlin wants the Moorlands attraction – along with other venues such as Warwick Castle, the National Sea Life Centre, and Legoland Discovery Centre – to be allowed to open with nonessential retailers.

It says the entertainment venues pose a low risk to coronavirus.

A Merlin spokesman said: “Following the end of the second lockdown before Christmas, indoor entertainment centres had to remain closed, despite their multitude of Covid-19 safety precautions, and outdoor entertainment centres, whilst being able to remain open, were only able to do so in a very limited capacity, with accommodation and many of their indoor attractions being closed.

“Meanwhile, nonessential retail (shops, gyms, hairdressers and garden centres) were allowed to open fully including in Tier 3 areas.

“This is despite retail outlets having hundreds of customers through their doors, with no records kept, and in contrast to Merlin’s attractions, where all tickets are pre-purchased and visitor contact details are provided.”

Merlin says it supports plans to combat Covid and does not want to open its attractions before it is safe to do so.

Safety measures will include temperature checks, social distances and the wearing of masks by guests and staff.

A CLEAN up day on the streets of Leek has been described as ‘brilliant’ – with more than 120 residents taking part.

Residents of the town were invited to ‘love their street’ on Valentine’s Day and join a clean up campaign by clearing litter and dog dirt.

More than 120 people took part in the clean up of 325 streets.

One of the organisers of the street clean, Alan Fletcher, said: “It was a brilliant day.

“We managed to get 325 streets cleaned, along with Brough Park and Birchall.

“Despite the cold weather, more than 120 people of all ages took to their streets in the clean up campaign.

“A lot of masks were found lying in the streets. People have now been stopping us and thanking us for doing the campaign.

“We have now seen more areas to look at including industrial estates. We are going to keep it going with another clean up day in Spring as we have been overwhelmed with support.

“Some people have said that they will take to the streets that were not done on Sunday. People want their streets and town to look nice.

“We want the town to look splendid when the lockdown facilities are lifted, so we can also welcome visitors to the town and help our businesses to bounce back.”

Alan said that the idea started by someone complaining on Facebook about the state of streets in the town.

He said: “Some said it was the council’s responsibility, but I think we all have a responsibility to keep our streets and town clean.

“I spoke to many people and then put it on Facebook that we should have a love your street and town event on Valentine’s Day. It has just snowballed and we have even had litter pickers donated.

“There are also five major roads leading into Leek, the amount of litter on the roads does not give a good impression to visitors entering the town but we would have to work with the council to do such clean up work.”