Hundreds of giant white hearts have been painted onto parks in Bristol to keep people at least two metres apart and help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The 374 large white hearts are being applied to Queen’s Square, Castle Park and College Green in Bristol this week.

They are part of #BristolTogether, an initiative by businesses and leaders in the city as it safely reopens with the easing of lockdown restrictions.

A team of artists from Upfest – Europe’s largest graffiti festival – began spraying the hearts on the grass on Tuesday morning.

The hearts are approximately three metres wide with at least two metres between them to encourage social distancing.

Keith Rundle, operations director at Bristol City Centre’s Business Improvement District (BID) team, said: “Since lockdown we have been consulting throughout the city in a joint effort to reopen Bristol safely.

“This will be an ongoing process which helps workers return to their workplaces, as well as helping retailers, leisure and hospitality businesses to give confidence to their customers.

“We wanted to remind everyone that we have amazing green spaces right in the heart of the city which makes it the perfect place to meet outdoors while also supporting the city’s economy.

“We’re inviting Bristol to work together to help us recover quickly from the effects of lockdown, but also to help protect each other while still enjoying what our city has to offer.

“These hearts are the first of our initiatives with more to follow in the coming weeks and months.”

The #BristolTogether campaign is being led by Bristol City Centre BID alongside Visit Bristol, Business West and Broadmead BID, in partnership with the One City Economy Board and Bristol City Council.

It was also supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the Government’s Reopening High Streets Safely Fund.