Portsmouth council watches promenade crowds with drone

A drone has been flown over Southsea seafront to help social distancing measures by showing busy spots.

It was flown along the promenade on Saturday by Portsmouth City Council after residents raised concerns over the number of people in the area.

Council bosses said the footage showed problem areas where people often stopped or sat which meant others struggled to pass them safely.

Marshals will patrol the areas to encourage people to keep moving.

The authority said it had also added new signs in a bid to keep the promenade flowing with people exercising.

Under the lockdown rules you can exercise once a day outside in your local area.

Councillor Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth's transport boss, said: "If our regular reviews of the area show that it becomes even busier, we may need to take additional actions such as closing some stretches of road as we did during the summer, however, the evidence shows that this is not currently necessary."

Concerns about social distancing along the seafront led to the closure of a section of Clarence Esplanade on Saturday and Sunday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported.

Latest figures show Portsmouth has reached 635.2 cases per 100,000 people. For comparison, the figure for England is 618.1.