After months of lockdown hitting sales and income, many businesses in Croydon are straining under the pressure brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

Now the council are calling on residents to help support them in their hour of need by ensuring they shop in the borough and its economy maintain independence.

In a statement posted online, Croydon Council's Labour Leader Tony Newman described the support businesses in Croydon had given residents during the ongoing pandemic and now implored people living in the area to give back.

"If there is something positive that can come out of this dreadful health crisis, it has been an opportunity for many of us to rediscover and appreciate the gems in our own neighbourhoods – the shops on the corner or the park at the end of our road.

"They have been there for us – and now it is time for us to be there for them," he said.

Cllr Newman added that the best way to support businesses, with many reopening with physical distancing measures in place this weekend, was to do so safely during the ongoing pandemic to minimize the risk of spreading Covid-19 coronavirus.

"If we truly want to support our businesses the most important thing we can do is be responsible in how we do it and minimise the health risk to ourselves and others," he said.

"That means sticking to the social distancing guidelines when we are out, practising good hygiene, respecting the new measures they might have in place and behaving responsibly and considerately to others.

So if you('re) popping into your local pub for a pint or returning to your favourite restaurant or having a long-awaited haircut, please enjoy yourselves – but do it safely."

Figures released by Public Health England (PHE) on July 1 showed that Covid-19 coronavirus still has a foothold in Croydon.

The borough's infection rate on July 1 stood at 1.6 per 100,000 people tested, next to higher figures in Sutton of 2.0 and Surrey of 3.7.

Despite the easing of a number of quarantine restrictions in recent days in the UK and across Europe, the coronavirus pandemic is worsening according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

On July 4, the WHO reported the biggest ever daily rise in confirmed cases, with 211,411 new Covid-19 cases reported, up 20.31 per cent from the previous day.

Globally, as of 11.54am, July 5 2020, there have been 11,108,580 confirmed cases of Covid-19, including 527,835 deaths, as reported by the WHO.

Of those, the UK has had 284,280 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 44,131 confirmed deaths.