Sunday Trading

Large shops - Shops over 280 square metres

• Can open on Sundays but only for 6 consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm
• Must close on Easter Sunday
• Must close on Christmas Day

If your Sunday trading hours are restricted, you must clearly display what your opening hours are inside and outside your shop.

Exemptions

Shops exempt from the Sunday trading restrictions for large shops include:

• Airport and railway station outlets
• Service station outlets
• Registered pharmacies selling only medicinal products and medical and surgical appliances
• Farms selling mainly their own produce
• Outlets wholly or mainly selling motor or bicycle supplies and accessories
• Suppliers of goods to aircraft or sea-going vessels on arrival at, or departure from, a port, harbour or airport
• Exhibition stands selling goods

Small shops - sales area up to 280 square metres

The hours of opening for Sunday Trading in small shops are unrestricted.

The Sunday Trading Act classes a 'small shop' as anything with an internal sales and display area below 280 square metres (approximately 3000 square feet). This area does not include stockrooms, offices, toilets, etc. and is purely the area of the part of your premises where customers are served and any display area which you may have.

This area includes all parts of the shop you use to display goods and serve customers. You can't get around the restrictions by closing off parts of your shop on certain days!

Penalties

Large shops that open when they're not supposed to can be fined up to £50,000.

Report a Shop

If you believe that a shop is exceeding the Sunday trading hours or is opening when it is not allowed to, please contact the Council.

Employment rules for restricted opening

Workers in any shop that opens on a normal Sunday may have special employment rights. There is no automatic right for workers to have public holidays off, including Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, unless it's in their contract.

Extra pay for working public holidays is optional, unless it is stated in an employee's contract. The Council does not enforce employment rules, for further information visit Citizens Advice.