Thousands sign petition to shut down UK's luxury shopping 'village' that's hugely popular with Chinese tourists after giant lines outside stores prompt safety concerns

• Thousands sign petition calling for Bicester Village to close after larger crowds gather outside stores prompting worker safety concerns.
• Laura Wicks, who started the petition, wrote online that she was "disgusted to see the hundreds of people squashed into the street like Coronavirus never happened."
• The company behind the shopping complex outlined its new shopping protocols online. These include having your temperature taken on arrival, standing two-meters apart from other guests, and putting a limit on the number of people allowed in a store at any one time.
• It is not clear how these are being enforced, however.

Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for Bicester Village, the UK's well-known luxury shopping village, to close after crowds of shoppers gathered outside stores on Monday putting workers at risk, it said.

At the time of writing, nearly 4,500 people had signed the petition.

Bicester Village, which is home to over 160 brands including Gucci, Balenciaga, Versace, and Valentino, is a luxury shopper center where customers can buy discounted designer clothing and accessories that are usually from the previous season. The complex was able to reopen on Monday as per UK government guidelines after being closed for several months during the lockdown.

Laura Wicks, who started the petition, wrote online that she was "disgusted to see the hundreds of people squashed into the street like Coronavirus never happened."

"As a nation we are all still under the 2 metre guidelines and as a company, Bicester Village have a responsibility to keep its staff safe," she said. "It is horrendous that the people who work there are being forced into an unsafe environment when so many of them have family at home. SHUT THE VILLAGE UNTIL THEY HAVE A SOLUTION TO KEEP THEIR STAFF SAFE OR THE GUIDELINES CHANGE," she said.

Photos shared on social media show large crowds gathered outside stores with customers not adhering to the UK's government's two-meter social distancing rules, which stores are required to enforce.

Business Insider reached out to Value Retail, the company that runs Bicester Village, for comment but did not immediately hear back.

On its website, Value Retail clearly outlines its new shopping protocols, however. These include having your temperature taken on arrival, standing two-meters apart from other guests, and putting a limit on the number of people allowed in a store at any one time.

Two-meter floor markers have been placed inside and outside of the boutiques to show people where to stand, it said. In addition, it said that it would be monitoring the number of guests in the shopping complex at any one time.

"We may ask guests to wait outside the Village for a short moment in the interests of everyone's safety and well being. We expect to be able to manage this guest flow as fluidly as possible," it said.

Bicester Village opened in 1995 and has quickly become one of the most popular tourist attractions in England, reportedly becoming the second most-visited destination by Chinese tourists there.

Despite its name, it doesn't actually look anything like an English village. In fact, the immaculate rows of clapboard houses and manicured flower beds look more like something you'd see on the east coast of America.