SHOP owners in Worcester have expressed their joy at being able to welcome back customers after the country entered the next step of the government's roadmap out of lockdown.

Non-essential shops and hairdressers were able to reopen their doors yesterday as restrictions begin to ease.

Stuart Connop, the owner of Jessica's Sweet Shop in Mealcheapen Street, was in 'buoyant' mood yesterday morning.

He said: "We’ve got two shops, this one and one in Hereford as well and they’ve both started off quite well this morning.

"We started an online website for the shops so we’ve kept a high profile during lockdown, and we’ve been serving people through deliveries.

"So I’m quite buoyant today, I think things will return to normal.

"Obviously we have lost a couple of stores such as Debenhams and a couple around the corner, but hopefully, I think we should be ok.

"We have had a decent bit of support from the government with the furlough scheme and we've had a couple of grants to see us through, but we're ready to open now, it was getting a bit hairy shall we say.

He added:"I can understand that people might be hesitant to come out and I think we should crack on but obviously safely, because the last thing we want to do is go back into another lockdown so it's important to do it safely."

Matthew Stone runs the His & Hers hair salon with his family in Broad Street.

He said: “We’ve been advised to take bookings only at the moment and we’ve been absolutely rammed this morning."

Matthew's father Michael, who owned the business, died after contracting Covid-19 in November.

Matthew said:“We are feeling a bit anxious about today because it’s been a long time off, and we lost my father in November, so we’re carrying on the business without him now.

“We’re booked up for the next few weeks and it’s very busy, but it’s good to get back to work and it’s nice seeing all the old faces again.”

Meanwhile, The popular city centre market in Angel Place, Worcester, will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday, April 14.

A new company, Cotswold Markets Ltd, has been appointed by Worcester City Council to operate the market, which will be open every week from Wednesday to Saturday.