LIFE is slowly returning to normal in Brighton and Hove, data suggests, despite the coronavirus restrictions still in place.

Google uses location data from phones and other personal devices to track trends in people's movement in different parts of their daily lives.

It compares footfall in five areas outside of the home – retail and recreation, supermarkets and pharmacies, parks, public transport and workplaces – to a five week-baseline period recorded before the Covid-19 crisis.

In Brighton and Hove, average activity across these categories was 15 per cent above normal levels in the week to June 6.

This was up significantly from 46 per cent below in the week beginning January 4, when the UK was plunged into its third national lockdown.

Google data for the week ending June 6 in Brighton and Hove shows:

• Activity in retail and recreation establishments was 9 per cent above normal levels

• In supermarkets and grocery stores, it was 2 per cent above usual

• Activity was 131 per cent above pre-pandemic measurements in parks and public spaces

• It was 27 per cent below the baseline on public transport

• And activity in workplaces was 38 per cent below normal

Across the UK, average activity peaked at 9 per cent above the baseline between May 31 and June 6 – a higher level than any other week since the UK entered its first lockdown in March 2020.

The Prime Minister pushed back the end of England’s coronavirus restrictions to July 19 due to concerns over the rapidly spreading Delta variant first identified in India.

Experts feared going ahead with step four on June 21 as planned could lead to hospital admissions on the scale of the first wave of Covid-19, heaping unsustainable pressure on the health service.

While many activities and venues such as large-scale events and nightclubs still have several weeks before they can return, many other parts of the economy have reopened.

After months of lockdown, the first coronavirus restrictions were eased in April when non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality resumed.

This was followed by pubs and restaurants welcoming customers indoors in May, along with many indoor entertainment and cultural venues, such as museums, theatres and cinemas – though all are operating at a reduced capacity.