SHOPS could be allowed to open around the clock in December and January in order to help them make up for lost trade during the lockdown.

Writing in the Telegraph, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said that shops should be able to decide their opening hours over the next two months, even having the option of 24 hour opening should they wish.

He said that the Government would be relaxing planning restrictions that normally require retailers to apply for permission to open outside the hours of 9am to 7pm.

The hours would be determined by the retailers themselves and at the discretion of the local council but councils would be given an ‘unambiguous request’ to allow shopkeepers to set the hours they choose over the festive period, said the minister.