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A year like no other: how the streets of Corby, Kettering, Rushden and Wellingborough looked when lockdown first began

Our town centres were almost empty as the nation was ordered to stay at home

Today (March 23) marks a year since Covid restrictions began - and it's been a year like no other.

The nation watched as prime minister Boris Johnson addressed us all on TV to order us to stay at home, with specific reasons such as essential shopping and exercise being a valid reason to go out.

It meant 'non-essential' shops, pubs and restaurants, hairdressers and more had to shut their doors, leaving our town centres and shopping parks eerily quiet.

Only outlets deemed essential by the Government, such as food retailers, pharmacies, petrol stations, post offices, banks, newsagents and pet shops were allowed to open.

One year on, here's a look back at just how empty our shopping areas were in the first week of the first national lockdown.

Pictures by Alison Bagley.

It meant 'non-essential' shops, pubs and restaurants, hairdressers and more had to shut their doors, leaving our town centres and shopping parks eerily quiet.