The mayor of Oswestry is proud of the town after the vast majority of residents adhered to the social distancing measures over Easter weekend.

Councillor John Price was pleased to see the town’s residents sticking to the government guidelines to keep two metres apart and to not attend or organise gatherings with those outside of their household.

There were calls from politicians, police, transport services and the Met Office for the public to stay home and resist the temptation to travel on what is usually one of the busiest weekends of the year.

Cllr Price wants people in the town to continue acting sensibly, and encouraged them to be responsible when using their hour for exercise.

He said: “We still have a certain amount of freedom while we are allowed out to exercise, and using that responsibly is great.

“We’ve just got to make sure we keep apart – and once we adhere to this as people in Oswestry appear to be doing, it should go away a lot quicker.

“I am proud of people in our town for sticking to this and behaving responsibly and sensibly.

“We’ve got to remember it will go away quicker as long as everyone has that mindset.”

The mayor also asked people to be patient and continue following the guidelines which have been put in place across the UK, and thanked those in Oswestry for doing so.

“[The virus is] a horrible thing,” he said. “But we’re lucky in this area compared to other places.

“All I can ask is that people continue to follow the rules, and if they are out and about, to keep their distance from others.

“As much as we’d like to stop and chat to people or shake someone’s hand, we can’t.

“I’m very proud of the people in Oswestry for the way in which they have responded to the advice and followed the guidelines.”

Cllr Price extended his thanks to the NHS and other key services

He said: “As well as thanking the people of Oswestry for adhering to the rules, I would once again like to thank the NHS, the staff in shops and other key workers – these people really are keeping everything going at the moment.

“Additionally, I would like to thank Oswestry Foodbank, Oswestry Angels and OsNosh for their work, as well as everyone helping to deliver foods and other goods.

“I would like to thank people who have been making donations in any form, it really is appreciated.”