Calls for a free-for-all when it came to Sunday trading

THERE were calls by Burton councillors in August 1988 to scrap outdated Sunday trading laws.

East Staffordshire District Council had taken part in a nationwide survey by the Association of District Councils (ADC) which revealed many local authorities were unhappy with the current Sunday trading laws which had been in place for nearly 40 years.

The ADC asked its members how they enforced the Shops Act of 1950 and what legal difficulties they had faced.

A lot of traders said they wanted to see the end of the Sunday trading ban and have a free-for-all.

Geoff Orme, East Staffordshire District Council’s director of services said: “We have to uphold the law as it stands but the problem is that a lot of people think it is archaic”.

He said the council did carry out routine inspections of businesses, but said the authority did not consider it a high priority and normally would only take action following a complaint.

At the time, the laws prevented stores trading on a Sunday unless they fell under certain strict exemptions.

The law was eventually changed in 1994 when the Sunday Trading Act came into force. This allowed large stores to operate for a maximum of six hours of trading.

Sunday trading laws changed in 1994 but as this photo from 1991 shows, plenty of shops had started to trade on a Sunday before the change as laws were rarely upheld.

Despite the rules, some stores started trading on a Sunday before the law change. Great Mills DIY in Horninglow Street started Sunday trading in 1989.

Stores celebrated when they could legally start trading on a Sunday,