Seven in ten people back Sunday trade

(First Edition)

NEARLY seven in ten people want trading laws reformed to allow more shops to open on Sundays, according to a survey published yesterday. The Mori poll of about 1,700 adults in England and Wales (Sunday trading is legal in Scotland) found 67 per cent favoured more liberal laws.

This compares with an earlier finding that 64 per cent backed Sunday trading, showing that support for restrictions was falling, according to the Shopping Hours Reform Council.

The Mori poll was released by the pro-Sunday-trading council and the Consumers' Association, which have joined forces to launch a campaign demanding government action to lift the threat of prosecution from shops opening on the sabbath.

'The millions who visit stores on a Sunday are the silent majority in this debate, yet they are the people who are most affected by the crazy laws,' Baroness Jay, the council's chair, said.

The survey received a dusty response from the Keep Sunday Special Campaign, which said that Sunday trading was pushing up shopping bills.