CLYDEBANK shoppers have been praised for maintaining social distancing in the town’s shopping centre.

The near-empty Clyde Shopping Centre remains open with 18 retailers continuing to serve customers out of the normal 120 who operate.

Stores such as Asda, Iceland, Poundland and Wilkos have kept their doors open and Ross Campbell, senior asset manager at centre owners Edinburgh House Estates, said Argos is also looking to reopen.

But he said they were awaiting guidance from the Scottish Government on what businesses would be able to reopen and when.

He told the Post: “We are very pleased with how people have socially distanced in the centre.

“They have listened to the government, which is good, and we are now waiting for further instructions from the government.”

The former Watt Brothers unit is to be taken over by B&M once workers are allowed back on site to finish the conversion.

Read more: West Dunbartonshire Council works to limit damage to economy

Mr Campbell added: “We want to help people to reopen. But until we know when people can open and who can open, it’s impossible to predict.

“As long as people socially distance themselves the shopping centre is open. Even if the government reopened everything tomorrow, we would still have social distancing until the government tells us differently.”

He added: “The last thing we want to do is put pressure on the NHS.”

In November, West Dunbartonshire Council confirmed it would look at taking over the leasehold for the shopping centre. There has not been any formal progress published by the local authority since then.

Damon Scott, chief executive of Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The chamber has started to change its focus to include supporting businesses out of the crisis into a re-emerging economy so the businesses we are engaging with are in the best possible position to re-establish themselves.

“The business landscape will, without doubt, be very different from the one we were used to before the Covid-19 crisis.”