Huge queues at B&Q store in Washington which has reopened as bosses urge shoppers to follow social distancing rules

B&Q temporarily closed its stores after the UK went into lockdown on March 23, yet several outlets have since reopened.

The Washington store is operating with reduced opening hours of 8am to 5pm from Monday to Friday and 10am-4pm on Sundays as normal.

Huge queues could be seen outside the Washington branch on the first day of opening on Wednesday April 22, with barriers in place to ensure social distancing.

Nearby B&Q stores in Sunderland and Durham have remained closed but could reopen soon following a review.

B&Q has defended its decision to reopen stores and has cited other retailers which have remained open with social distancing rules amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A B&Q spokesperson said: "As an essential retailer, we’re committed to providing the best possible service to support customers’ home improvement needs at this difficult time, while keeping customers and colleagues safe.

"Having watched other essential retailers support social distancing in their stores, we are now following their best practice and are re-opening some stores, including B&Q Washington, with strict social distancing measures in place.

"Similar to shopping at a supermarket, we’re strictly limiting the number of customers in store at any one time, and so customers are typically queueing before entering stores. All stores have a designated queuing area outside and these have two metre markers to help remind everyone to respect each other’s personal space.

"To further support social distancing, we have two metre floor markers throughout the store and have also installed perspex screens at the checkouts.

“Only products that you can shop and takeaway in store on the day are available to customers. Our services such as kitchen and bathroom design, paint mixing, timber cutting and key cutting are not available for the time being and, at this point in time, we’re only accepting card and contact-less payments.

"We are reviewing the current openings before making any decisions about re-opening more stores, including B&Q Durham and B&Q Sunderland.”

B&Q will continue to offer their Click+Collect service at diy.com.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.

How to subscribe to the print edition:

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.