Counter shows number of people in town’s streets

TOOL HELPS SHOPPERS WORK OUT THE BEST TIMES TO VISIT

PEOPLE worried about coronavirus can check how many people are in different parts of Loughborough town centre before they visit.

An online crowd counter displays in almost real time how many people are at the seven busiest locations, including The Rushes, High Street and Market Place, as well as whether social distancing is possible in the town.

There is a traffic light system to show if areas are too busy to visit.

The system has been set up to encourage shoppers back after all non-essential stores were allowed to reopen on Monday.

It has been led by Love Loughborough BID, which represents hundreds of shops and businesses in the town and surrounding area.

The organisation, along with Charnwood Borough Council, has also taken other steps to enforce social distancing, such as signs on the ground, distributing advice leaflets and helping companies buy protective equipment and hand sanitiser.

The crowd counter will also allow the authorities to keep an eye on congestion levels so action can be taken to prevent situations where coronavirus could be more likely to spread.

Lisa Brown, BID manager, said: “This is a fantastic tool for visitors and for Loughborough BID.

“It allows us to regularly monitor areas within the town centre and focus our assistance where needed and we hope this will also provide reassurance to our visitors, being able to see how busy certain locations are without the need to be there.”

Locations turn orange when they are getting busy and red when it could become difficult to keep two metres from other people.

The locations displayed are Biggin Street, High Street, Baxter Gate, The Rushes Shopping Centre, The Rushes street, Ashby Square and Market Place.

The counters refresh every five minutes and also displays what times of day are busiest, helping shoppers who want to visit at a quiet time.

■ To see the current situation check the site at: