Poll: Should Sunday trading laws be relaxed?

Sunday trading laws in the Black Country and Staffordshire will only be relaxed if it is what people want, council leaders have said.

George Osborne's promise to let councils decide on restrictions on opening hours has also been condemned by an MP who said it was being 'slipped out' while Parliament is in recess and ministers cannot be questioned.

Local authorities were told in the Chancellor's Budget that they would have the power to relax Sunday trading laws.

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Now it has emerged they will also have the choice of whether they want to ease the current rules limiting shops with over 280 sq m (3,000 sq ft) floorspace to six hours opening on a Sunday.

Under the plans, set out in a government consultation paper, authorities would have the discretion to decide whether to apply the new conditions throughout the whole of their area, or limit them to specific zones where they want to encourage business.

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Potentially, it could mean councils allowing longer Sunday trading in traditional high streets while excluding out-of-town supermarkets. Wolverhampton council's Labour leader Roger Lawrence said authorities would have to work together to avoid a postcode lottery. He said: "We would need to liaise with our neighbours so there is not a rush from one area to another at certain times of the day.

"I'm not aware that there is a huge demand for this so we will have to listen to what shoppers, traders and others want."

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And Conservative Brian Edwards, leader of South Staffordshire Council, said: "Shops are open for a fair time on Sundays as it is and my own preference would be to leave it that way. Of course, we will ask what residents and traders want and will consider their views." There was support for change from one business.

Faiez Ali, aged 26, of the I-Style Mobile Store in Wolverhampton's Mander Centre, said: "It's one of our busiest days, so an extension of trading hours for our family business is only going to help us. We'd be more than happy to stay open."

The announcement by the Government of a consultation on Sunday Trading was criticised by Warley MP John Spellar.

He said: "It's typical of this government that it slips out this announcement when Parliament isn't sitting so the Minister can't be questioned."