West Somerset shoppers are being called upon to patronise their small local stores this Christmas as the pre-festive spending spree gathers pace.

The role that small and medium-size traders play in their local communities was highlighted at the week-end by Small Business Saturday, an annual celebration of the Britain’s army of independent shops which has been taking place every year since 2013.

And local MP Ian Liddell-Granger believed that the damage inflicted on the business community by the pandemic this year now called for an extra measure of support.

Speaking during a visit to Somerset butcher Malcolm Pyne’s business, he said thousands of traders had pulled out all the stops to keep supporting their clients even when lockdown rules had prohibited normal trading.

“Whether by offering online shopping or home deliveries they ensured life remain as normal as possible for their customers under distinctly abnormal trading conditions,” he said.

“Christmas should be pay-back time for all the effort, ingenuity and energy they put in to making life as bearable as possible for us all.

“Small traders are the backbone of every community and I should love to see the public celebrating that fact by showing all-out support for them in their Christmas spending.”