BUSINESSES celebrated as customers flocked back to shops and venues after Covid rules were relaxed.

Shops, restaurants and entertainment venues in Epping Forest saw a boost in visitors following the reopening of indoor hospitality in May – but footfall remained below levels before the Covid pandemic, new figures reveal.

There is, however, hope that the final lifting of restrictions on July 19 – dubbed Freedom Day – will give the high street the “summer boost it needs”.

The data comes from Google, which uses location data from phones and other personal devices to track trends in people’s movement in different parts of their daily lives.

It compares footfall in areas where there is retail and recreation such as restaurants, cafes and shopping centres to a five week-baseline period recorded before the Covid-19 crisis.

The figures showed in Epping Forest, average activity across these areas was 24 per cent below normal levels across the two weekends – May 8 and 9 and May 15 and 16 – prior the lifting of restrictions on indoor hospitality on May 17.

On the Saturday and Sunday of the Spring Bank Holiday on May 31, increased activity meant it was two per cent above normal levels.

Then across the final two weekends with data – July 3 and 4 and July 10 and 11 – footfall fell to six per cent below pre-pandemic levels.

Across the UK, average activity in retail and recreation areas increased from 35% below the baseline over the weekends of May 8 and 9 and May 15 and 16, to 18 cent below across July 2 and 3 and July 12 and 13.

The weekend of the Spring Bank Holiday saw a peak in visitors with activity just 11per cent down on pre-pandemic levels.

The figures will have been impacted by the easing of Covid restrictions across England on May 17, which allowed restaurants and pubs to open indoor areas for food and drink.

Cinemas, hotels and children’s play areas were also given the go-ahead to reopen, along with indoor sporting and entertainment venues.

The data from Google showed that the busiest weekend for activity in retail and recreation areas in Epping Forest since May 8 was May 29 and 30, while the quietest was May 15-16 when activity was 25 per cent below normal levels.