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Covid: Ipswich Christmas shop closed under lockdown rules

BBC Christmas WonderlandBBC
Christmas Wonderland was issued with a prohibition order to close from Ipswich Borough Council

A "Christmas" shop has been told to close due to lockdown restrictions.

Ipswich Borough Council served a prohibition order on Christmas Wonderland in Tavern Street.

The council said "only shops that sell a substantial amount of essential goods can remain open", as per government guidelines.

But shop owner Zoe Scarrott said 75% of goods were "essential" and not Christmas items. She said she would be taking legal advice.

Paul Clement, chief executive of Ipswich Central business organisation, took to Twitter to voice concerns about the shop and asked for clarity about "what is 'essential' in this lockdown".

However, Ms Scarrott said her store had sold personal protective equipment, food and cleaning products "from the day it opened" in September.

The inside of the shop
Shop owner Zoe Scarrott said 75% of goods in the shop were "essential"

She said enforcement should be "based on what we sell, not what we are called".

"We feel completely discriminated against as a small business. We had an agreement with the landlord and our intentions were always to sell essential items," she said.

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Ms Scarrott said they were temporarily closed and were seeking legal advice on "how to move forward".

She added: "We haven't manipulated any rules here. It's in our agreement. It's in black and white.

"We opened in September and our agreement is until March. We are not a six or eight week pop-up Christmas shop."

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England's second lockdown came into effect on Thursday and is due to last until 2 December.

The government ordered all "non-essential shops" to close, including clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms, betting shops, tobacco and vape shops and electronic goods and mobile phone shops.

Those allowed to remain open include food shops, supermarkets, pharmacies, garden centres, hardware stores, building merchants and off-licences.

The council said it did not consider Christmas Wonderland "to comply with the regulations and therefore it is not permitted to trade".

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