Some shopkeepers in Keswick are already taking steps to secure their premises in case the COVID-19 lockdown intensifies further and for longer.
In an address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that all shops not selling essentials such as food and medicines should close indefinitely to help prevent people coming into close contact with each other.
The previous Thursday, Cllr Alexandra Boardman had told Keswick Town Council’s meeting that there were already security concerns among businesses at Packhorse Court about shops being left empty for a long period of time.
She asked: “Are the police planning anything extra should there be a lockdown?” Cllr Boardman, who has a clothes store in Packhorse Court, added: “Some private businesses in town have ordered shutters or wood for their windows.”
No police representative was able to attend the meeting to offer a response or provide any details about the latest local crime figures. However, chairman Cllr Paul Titley had earlier said: “I am delighted that we have got a police station back in Keswick at the fire station.”
The town has been without a police station since its old one in Bank Street closed in 2013. The building is now a Wetherspoon pub. After growing concern about the lack of a police presence in Keswick, Cumbria Police is now re-opening a base in the town, having taken on more bobbies-on-the-beat.
