Footfall in Norwich rose by 444pc the week the high street reopened with nearly 50,000 people flocking to the shops.

New data has shown that just a week prior to lockdown easing only 9,167 people had been out and about in the city centre.

However on April 12 this spiked to 49,956.

This was compounded by the fact that people had booked the day off to hit the shops, said the Norwich Business Improvement District the body which gathered the data.

The city has slowly seen people return since the beginning of the year, said Stefan Gurney, chief executive of the Norwich BID: "From January 2021 we have steadily seen an increase in footfall in Norwich week on week.

"But the great news is that when non-essential shops and bars, restaurants and pubs serving outdoors opened on April 12, Norwich saw a huge and heartening increase in footfall compared to 5 April: footfall increased 444pc."

The month on month picture is similarly positive, with Norwich performing above the national average at 52.4pc increase compared to 24pc across the UK.

It is similarly strong against the rest of the East of England which saw an increase of 28.8pc.

Mr Gurney said: "This much larger footfall result for Norwich is fantastic and is a very positive step in the right direction for our beautiful city centre.

"I was in the city on Monday, and the atmosphere was something really special. No one knew how people would feel about coming out again, but the results speak for themselves and it is extremely encouraging to see Norwich perform so well against the rest of the East and the UK.

Norwich Evening News: Busy Memorial Gardens in Norwich as people are out and about enjoying the easing of the Covid restrictions. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYBusy Memorial Gardens in Norwich as people are out and about enjoying the easing of the Covid restrictions. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Archant 2021)

"Public health is still of the utmost importance, and it’s important to keep in mind that a lot of our hospitality businesses are not operating at full capacity, in order to adhere to the restrictions in place in order to keep staff and visitors safe – these places will really be counting on visitors’ support in the months to come.

"But the city is open for businesses again, and we hope these figures will be tentatively encouraging for businesses who have worked so hard – and invested so much – to open their doors again."