Travel firm boss's health check on state of the High Street in Bognor

Mr Mitchell, who runs Mitchell's Travel in the town's London Road, says he has seen a big upturn in bookings since new Covid-19 rules saw the travel traffic light system scrapped along with changes to coronavirus tests for fully jabbed holidaymakers were announced.

From 22 September, eight countries will be moved off the government's red list. These are: Turkey, Pakistan, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Oman and Bangladesh.

And to coincide with the news, the travel firm's Bognor HQ will host BBC Radio Sussex's Drivetime programme with presenter Danny Pike on September 27 between 2pm and 6pm.

Mr Mitchell explained: "We're honoured to be able to host the show, which will bring the spotlight on Bognor and just how we have coped in business terms throughout the pandemic.

"During this period, we bucked the trend by opening a coffee shop housing our travel operation because we believed in the town and the potential of our townsfolk to recover from the pandemic.

"Business has picked up massively since the announcement that from 4 October, the current traffic light system of red, amber and green countries will be scrapped and replaced with one red list only

"Also, from that date, passengers who are fully vaccinated will no longer need to take a pre-departure test for travelling into England from non-red list countries. Then, from the end of October, people will be able to replace their day-two PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow test.

"We look forward to welcoming the BBC to Bognor and helping to tell listeners just how fabulous this town and its people have coped with the pandemic and how we are going about pulling together within the community to recover.”