South Holland car showrooms open to the public again after lockdown

Car dealerships in South Holland are reporting a steady demand from the public after reopening their showrooms on Monday.

Measures to control the spread of coronavirus saw car showrooms close their doors to potential customers on March 23 for ten weeks.

But an easing of lockdown restrictions by the Government, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on May 24, allowed car showrooms to reopen from June 1, provided they meet COVID-19 secure guidelines.

John Cooper, of Leesons Garage in Sutton Bridge, said: "I'm quite pleased with the response to us being open again, although a lot of it hasn't been turned into sales at this stage.

"We've had a few enquiries and have sold a few used cars when we normally sell five or six a week.

"But our workshop is still thriving and I'm sure the volume of sales will be generated once we get back to normal."

Adam Brand, of WH Brand in Whaplode Drove, said: "We're getting quite a few enquiries and there have been some sales as well,

"But we were expecting that because of the appointments we'd built up over the past few weeks with people who have been waiting for us to open again.

"We'll wait to see if that continues, or whether it's down to the high number of appointments built up over the time our showroom was closed to the public."

Jordan Crowson, from Crowsons of Spalding, said: "Things have been fine and it's gone really well.

"We've had quite a few people in, while also see customers with appointments at set times.

"We've got full social distancing measures in places, with seats in our waiting area set back by two metres for clients to sit, as well as hand sanitizers, protection for client vehicles and all our courtesy car fleet in order to comply with government requirements."