coronavirus pandemic.Retailers normally have to go through a lengthy process to apply to local authorities under the Town and Country Planning Act if they wish to extend hours outside the window of 9am to 7pm.However, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said he wants to remove the bureaucracy to encourage greater trade – allowing shops to open for up to 24 hours a day in the months of December and January.Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: “With these changes local shops can open longer, ensuring more pleasant and safer shopping with less pressure on public transport.
How long will be a matter of choice for the shopkeepers and at the discretion of the council, but I suggest we offer these hard-pressed entrepreneurs and businesses.