Shoppers returned to the heart of Dundee as both the Overgate and Wellgate centres reopened their doors to the public. Picture: Steve Macdougall.

Warm welcome as lockdown is relaxed further for Courier Country shoppers

Customers were welcomed back to indoor shopping centres across Tayside and Fife yesterday, as the country’s lockdown restrictions were relaxed further.

Popular centres such as the Overgate in Dundee, St John’s in Perth and the Kingdom Shopping Centre in Glenrothes reopened with a host of new measures and features to keep staff and shoppers safe.

Extra signs, one-way walking routes and plentiful supplies of hand sanitiser have been installed ahead of this week’s relaunch.

Cleaners constantly wiping down surfaces and fixtures will also become a more common sight.

Overgate centre manager Malcolm Angus said he was delighted to be able to throw open the doors.

He added: “We have made every effort to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our customers, this is paramount.”

More shops in the Wellgate also reopened, but as a higher proportion of its stores were open during lockdown due to selling food there was little observable difference.

The Keiller Centre also opened its doors, though not every unit has reopened and many have lain empty for some time.

St John’s Shopping Centre in Perth has a new one-way system, with an entrance on High Street and exit on to South Street. There will be a limit on how many shoppers can enter at one time.

Spokesman Derek Martin said “close to 100%” of customers were complying with mandatory face covering rules.

David Carson, centre manager at the Kingdom Shopping Centre in Glenrothes, said it had been a long wait but now he was delighted to finally see retailers reopening and welcoming shoppers back.

He said: “About 85% of retailers are back open, and with hair salons and barbers allowed to start again on Wednesday we anticipate the centre to be at, or very near to, where we were before the lockdown.”

Shoppers were also welcomed back to the Mercat Shopping Centre in Kirkcaldy and many retailers were back trading at the Kingsgate Shopping Centre in Dunfermline, which lays claim to having the first face mask vending machine in Scotland.

Pictures: Steve Macdougall/kenny Smith. New signs in place at the Overgate Shopping Centre, Dundee, which reopened yesterday.

Above: Shoppers in the Kingdom Centre, Glenrothes, and wearing masks in the Overgate and Wellgate Centres, Dundee, right.