TWO major garden centres in the district will reopen today after the Prime Minister unveiled his 'road map' to exiting the coronavirus lockdown.

Cherry Lane, off the A120, and Braintree Garden Centre, in Cressing Road, will both be welcoming the public again having been closed since late March to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Bosses at Cherry Lane say they have put in place measures to ensure strict social distancing.

The centre was classed as an essential business because it sells food, pet and convenience items but opted to close its doors because of the pandemic.

The garden centre will now have a designated queuing area outside and two metre floor markers inside, while all checkouts are provided with protective plastic screens.

The Plantation café will not be open at this stage.

Brian Tibbles, manager at Cherry Lane, Braintree, said: “All of the team here at Cherry Lane are very excited to be back and serving our customers again. People are spending a lot of time in their gardens at the moment, so we are ensuring we are fully stocked and looking forward to being able to supply all our customers’ needs.

“However, for the safety of our customers and staff, we do ask you to bear with us if you have to queue, and obey the social distancing procedures we have in place, as we are limiting the number of customers in the centre at any one time. We are providing cleaning stations for our trolleys, encouraging contactless or card payments and asking customers to shop alone if at all possible.”

Braintree Garden Centre will also reopen from today.

In a statement, owners British Garden Centres said: "We will be reopening our stores as of the morning of Wednesday, May 13 in line with the Government guidance.

"We are committed to the wellbeing of our teams and customers.

"We are working to provide a Covid-19 secure environment.

"Alterations and adjustments have been made to our centres to make them as safe as possible."

Bosses say a one-way system will be set-up at the Braintree centre and staff will be offered PPE.

Check-outs and tills will be covered with a protective screen and hand cleansing equipment will be provided for staff and customers.