Coronavirus: Liverpool streets to be pedestrianised to boost outdoor dining

Car parking bays will be transformed into seating and park areas

Two Liverpool city centre streets are set to close to traffic in order to help cafes and bars reopen and operate during coronavirus restrictions.

Bold Street and Castle Street will be pedestrianised throughout the summer to allow for new seating areas for outdoor dining, the city council said.

Some Liverpool business owners said the plans marked the difference between "staying open or closing for good".

If successful the scheme could be rolled out to other Liverpool streets.

Natalie Haywood, of Leaf restaurant on Bold Street, said it was "fantastic news" which she hoped would give customers "confidence to start venturing back out".

"Without customer confidence no business really survives at all," she added.

"A lot of the units on Bold Street in particular are very small so social distancing is really difficult, it will just maybe tip it to make it viable to open again."

Castle Street will be closed to traffic from 4 July

Deputy Mayor and cabinet member for culture and tourism, Councillor Wendy Simon, said the local authority would "work with businesses on what they need" for a "phased approach" to reopening the hospitality sector.

The council is offering independent restaurants grants of £4,000 to buy outdoor furniture, while fees of about £600 for all new street cafe licence applications will be waived.

The chief executive of Liverpool BID Company, Bill Addy, said the move, which will see car parking bays transformed into seating and park areas, is "the start of the revolution in how we use the city centre".

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