Later hours on Sundays for Telford Shopping Centre stores

Telford Shopping Centre is to open longer into the evening on Sundays, bosses said this afternoon. They said it would bring the centre in line with other major malls.

The centre, which houses 175 stores, will now stay open until 5pm but will open half an hour later at 11am.

Chris Jones, centre director, said: "The new Sunday opening times have been introduced in response to feedback from retailers and customers.

"It is purely an operational thing. We have been in discussions with the larger shops such as Debenhams, House of Fraser and Boots who say the larger centres such as the Trafford Centre in Manchester tend to open between 11am and 5pm."

However, he said some stores such as Asda and Iceland will continue to open at 10am.

He added: "It is a fact that food shoppers tend to do their shopping earlier in the day, while others who enjoy shopping around and browsing on a Sunday would rather do it later."

He said the centre would be open for access from 10am until 6pm.

On average, 20,000 shoppers pass through the centre's doors on a Sunday.

The centre is also looking at opening for extended hours on Sundays during the Olympics.

The Government is pushing for longer opening times on the eight Sundays of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from July 22 until September 9.