Most ‘disability friendly’ shopping centres in Northern Ireland named

New research has found the most “disability friendly” shopping centres in Northern Ireland, with Bloomfield in Bangor coming out on top.

The research by lift provider, Olympic Lifts, has looked at the accessibility features of shopping centres across Northern Ireland, and has named 10 centres as the most disability friendly.

Over 30 shopping centres and outlets were studied and graded according to the different accessibility features available. The features studied included the option to rent scooters and wheelchairs, along with hosted a ‘quiet hour’ or similar during their opening hours.

According to the research the top 10 shopping centres are: Bloomfield (Bangor), Victoria Square (Belfast), Foyleside (Londonderry/Derry), Buttercrane (Newry), Abbey Centre (Newry), Castlecourt (Belfast), Park Centre (Belfast), Meadowlane (Magherafelt), Tower Centre (Ballymena) and Bow Street Mall (Lisburn).

Michael Forsyth of Olympic Lifts, said: “We felt very encouraged by the research we conducted into the levels of accessibility found in shopping centres around Northern Ireland. While there is still some distance to go in terms of providing a perfect shopping experience for disabled visitors, there is real proof of the efforts many centres are going to make that happen.”