Tony Mann, of Idle Travel, positive after roadmap announcement

Tony Mann, director of Idle Travel, says his phone has been ringing constantly since Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions over the next four months.

The Government has set a deadline of April 12 for the report of the reconstituted travel taskforce which will give people time to make their plans for the summer.

Mr Johnson’s road map for easing coronavirus restrictions states that hotels can reopen and foreign travel will be permitted from May 17 at the earliest.

Mr Mann says this is encouraging for travel and the holiday sector to recover and firms like his, based at Morrisons Shopping Complex at Five Lane Ends, can start to plan towards these dates.

He said: "I'm feeling a lot more positive today than I was a week or two ago.

"We have been making customers aware that it's a roadmap and there may be a few swerves in it.

"We got more information from the government than I thought we would get on travel.

"It's a good thing now, we have dates that we can plan towards.

"It made the travel industry anxious a couple of weeks ago when Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told people not to book holidays.

"If the government tell us what they are doing and when they are doing it, we can plan. We have lived through it for a year now.

"Our phones have been ringing off the hook. People have been calling to book holidays or ask us for advice if they have already booked.

"Some people are more confident to book a holiday. We are not going to be able to travel until May 17 at the earliest, but people are swapping their holiday times until later on.

"It has to be safe. People who may not have gone on holiday last year have been told that it's going to be a different experience from before.

"It's an interesting time. I feel a lot more confident today.

"It's also good that we can open up the shop on April 12, but it would have been no good to us with nothing for us to sell."