LONG queues have formed at intu Merry Hill as non-essential shops have reopened for the first time in three months.

Shoppers have flocked to the centre on the day many shops have opened their doors to customers following the easing of lockdown measures for retailers.

The video below, captured by Katie Taylor, shows a queue of patient shoppers snaking through the centre to visit Primark.

Queues have also formed outside the building, as shoppers return to a centre that has been transformed with a raft of social distancing measures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

One-way systems, floor stickers and queues outside stores ensure visitors stay socially distanced inside the popular centre.

Bosses at intu Merry Hill say they have also adapted its footfall-monitoring technology so frontline teams can accurately monitor and manage the number of people at the centre at any time.

Bosses at the centre said around 40% of shops at the centre are now open, with more set to follow in the coming weeks.

Gavin Prior, operations director at intu, said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming more people back to intu Merry Hill from today. There has been a wonderful vibe since even before we opened, with socially distanced queues forming from early this morning.  Our visitors have been playing their part by staying socially distanced and following all the other safety measures we have in place to make sure all intu centres are safe places to visit and work. It’s great to see all our teams’ hard work and planning come into action.

“In preparation for this week, we carried out some research with 2,000 regular shopping centre visitors which that found that many people were looking forward to returning to shops if there were the right safety measures and we have certainly seen that come true today. It is clear from the queues that people have been excited about returning to the shops and we are doing everything we can to make that experience both safe and joyful.

“Footfall across all intu centres is naturally lower than the same day last year but by 2pm today had grown by 218% compared to last Monday and we expect the number of visitors to steadily increase towards the weekend as more of us look to venture out to the shops and more brands reopen. Around 40% of the shops in intu centres are open today and many more are planning on reopening over the next week or two as they continue to put the right safety measures in place.

“We’d like to thank all the teams at intu and all the brands in our centres who have been working incredibly hard to make sure intu centres are safe places to visit and work.”