Restrictions on Penrith town centre roads which led to widespread protests from the town's business community are to be changed today.

Cumbria County Council has announced that Middlegate and Devonshire Street will be reopened to all vehicles from today, though restrictions will stay in place at the top of King Street, "due to the narrow pavements at he pedestrian crossing outside the British Heart Foundation shop."

"On street parking will be restricted on Middlegate", a county council spokesman said, "in an effort to discourage cars to travel through the centre of town."

"General parking will only be available on the right hand side although loading bays, disabled parking places and taxi ranks will remain.

"Pedestrian barriers will be installed this afternoon along this stretch of the road, leaving gaps for pedestrians to cross.

"The same restrictions will apply on Devonshire Street although there will be no general parking in this area."

The town centre road closures, put in place to make social distancing in the town centre easier, drew criticism from members of the Penrith business community over concerns it would cause a significant loss of trade.

Cumbria County Councillor David Whipp, chairman of Eden Local Committee, expressed his gratitude to residents and visitors for their "patients and comments over the last week.

"These updated measures should help ensure that our visitors are able to shop in our town safely and also enable the businesses to open and thrive.

"I’d ask that everyone respects the temporary restrictions which have been put in place. These will continue to be reviewed in line with government guidance and feedback.”

Councillor Scott Jackson, deputy mayor for Penrith Town council, added that he was pleased that all involved parties were able to "work together" to review the situation.

"The changes that have been made are welcomed and it is good that we will continue to work in partnership to review the situation weekly.

"Although there is some reduced on street parking in Middlegate, disabled parking, loading bays and the taxi rank will remain and all off street car parks are free until the end of August.

"These revised plans allow people to pop in and shop quickly if they so wish, supports our town centre businesses and allows safe pedestrian movement.”

Stephen Macauley from Penrith Chamber of Trade and Commerce, welcomed the decision made today.

“We’d like to see business back to normal as soon as possible, encourage a return to the High Street and avoid any further roadblocks to recovery.”

Darren Broad from Penrith Business Improvement District said the group was "delighted with the decision.

"We would like to reassure shoppers that Penrith is open for business.

"With free parking until the end of August, and a great range of local, independent shops as well as national retailers, we'd love our local community to shop local and support our traders."

Residents and visitors are encouraged wherever possible to make use of the free car parking which is available in Eden District Council car parks in an attempt to reduce the volume of vehicles travelling through the centre of Penrith. This is especially important for areas of the road around the ‘narrows’ so that pedestrians are able to maintain social distancing measures without stepping off the pavement into the road.

Additionally, shoppers are asked to ‘follow the arrows through the narrows’ and walk in one direction, on both sides of the road which faces the traffic. Those walking into town are asked to walk through Little Dockray.