With non-essential businesses reopening as England’s national lockdown ended, many were quick to avail themselves of their newly-rediscovered freedoms.
Queues formed outside shops while it was still dark, with early birds filling their boots, and many took an opportunity to shift some extra lockdown kilos by attending gyms or even defying bracing December conditions to use a lido in London.
With the news that a vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, many returned to activities in the hope that lockdowns will soon be a distant memory, although safety measures are still in place with England divided into a system of three tiers.
It was stlll dark when some swimmers took the plunge at London’s Charlton Lido (Victoria Jones/PA)Members of staff clean gym equipment at David Lloyd health club in Leicester as they reopen after England’s second national lockdown ended (Joe Giddens/PA)Jessica Walker and Nicola Foster, known as the Lido Ladies, swim at Charlton Lido in Hornfair Park, London, on its first day of reopening (Victoria Jones/PA)People queueing outside TK Maxx in Birmingham on the first day non-essential shops reopened (Jacob King/PA)Shoppers outside the Nike Town store at Oxford Circus, London (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)Gym members working out in Leicester (Joe Giddens/PA)Some shoppers in Newcastle quickly made up for lost time (Owen Humphreys/PA)Shoppers returned to the High Street in Newport, Isle of Wight, which is entering a more relaxed Tier 1 (Steve Parsons/PA)A swimmer passes a swan in open water at Serpentine Swimming Club after the second national lockdown ended (John Walton/PA)Members of Allerton Manor Golf Club in Liverpool took advantage of the relaxation of restrictions (Peter Byrne/PA)Comicoffee customer Charlie Way (left) receives his coffee from Lucy Jackson in Newport, Isle of Wight (Steve Parsons/PA)A queue outside Zara in Birmingham (Jacob King/PA)