Festival Place is reminding customers that from Friday, face coverings will be required when visiting the centre.

The new law, designed for the health and safety of shoppers and curb any spread of the coronavirus, makes it mandatory to wear face coverings in shops, including indoor areas of shopping centres and supermarkets.

But for those shoppers who forget to bring their own, disposable face masks will be available to buy in the Basingstoke shopping centre from a range of retailers and a dispenser located next to Lloyds Bank.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Independent retailer All Our Own Crafts will be selling special masks with a clear window for those who lip read or are hard of hearing.

Other retailers selling masks include, GAP Outlet, Card Factory, Superdrug, Waterstones, Claire’s and Trespass.

Centre Director Neil Churchill said: “The government’s new law is clear that face coverings must be worn indoors. At Festival Place we embrace any move that keeps our customers and staff safe and healthy and would urge visitors to follow the rules.

“Customers who forget to bring their face coverings won’t need to worry – they will be able to purchase a mask from our dispenser which has been installed next to Lloyds Bank.

“We’re also delighted to see so many of our retailers will have masks available to purchase and think it’s a wonderful that All Our Own Crafts have thought about our customers who rely on lip reading.”

Basingstoke Gazette:

There are some exceptions to the new rule including that customers in restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs do not need to wear anything over their face once they are seated.

Festival Place continues to ask shoppers to follow a one-way system around the centre and adopt the social distancing rules. New signs will be put around the centre reminding people to wear face coverings.

The centre is open from 9am-6pm Monday – Saturday and 11am-5pm on Sunday. Customers are advised check individual retailer pages for their specific hours as these may differ. The website also gives shoppers an idea of how busy it is using an electronic traffic lights system linked to real time footfall.