Deep clean for Preston city centre as high street welcomes back shoppers today

Cleaners took to Fishergate and Lune Street to spray wash pavements, benches, bus shelters, bollards and other street furniture on Sunday evening.

It is part of a new weekly disinfecting programme, as the city strives to provide a safe shopping environment as dozens of non-essential stores re-open today.

The deep clean, funded by Preston BID (Business Improvement District), is one of a number of measures taken by the city to reassure shoppers.

Visitors to the city centre will also be able to pick up a free face covering at a number of pop-up stalls along the high street. Thousands are expected to be handed out by volunteers, with face coverings now compulsory on public transport from today.

Shoppers will also benefit from a number of new hand-sanitising banks, in addition to those already in place at the former BHS store in Fishergate and outside Evoque nightclub in Church Street.

Preston BID’s Mark Whittle said: "Our measures include an increased programme of pavement cleaning and street furniture disinfecting, increasing the number of public hand sanitising banks, distributing tens of thousands of free face coverings to visitors, supporting retailers with their practical preparations and applying pavement and street signage in order to encourage social distancing.

"The programme introduced by the BID, funded by city centre businesses, ensures that that the city centre is a safe place to visit with suitable measures in place to encourage customer confidence."