THE ORACLE management team has spoken about the shopping centre's 'encouraging' first few days of being re-opened.

On Monday (June 15), non-essential shops were allowed to open their doors for the first time since March following a government relation of lockdown guidelines.

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Pictures showed queues of people taking to Reading streets and shopping centres since Monday.

Andy Briggs, general manager at The Oracle, said: "It was great to welcome back our customers on Monday.

"We saw queues at destinations forming as early as 8am, and the likes of Apple, Zara, and H&M. It is very early days, but footfall overall was encouraging.

"The safety and wellbeing of our shoppers, colleagues and retailers is of course our priority, and we’ve been working hard behind the scenes for the past few months to get everything ready.

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"We've introduced a range of measures to keep everyone safe, including new signage, one way systems, and new hand sanitiser stations.

"This new approach to shopping will take some getting used to, but the feedback we’ve had so far from customers is that they’re just pleased to be out and enjoying their favourite brands in real life once again.

"There’s certainly been some spending too, as shoppers take advantage of the post lockdown sales."

The centre has implemented rules of social distancing and provided guidance for shoppers.