Sunday trading hours to be extended
Belfast City Council allowing shops to open from 10am on Sundays
Retailers in Belfast have been told they can trade on Sunday mornings.
It is understood it will be in force until January, in a bid to help retailers and shoppers in the run up to Christmas.
In Northern Ireland large shops can only open on a Sunday between 1pm and 6pm.
They are defined as retail businesses with a floor area of more than 280 square metres.
Leona Barr is the Centre Manager at Castlecourt:
"We got correspondence... from Belfast City Council that there would be a temporary relaxation of enforcement around Sunday trading laws which will come into effect this Sunday and last until the 10th of January.
"We really welcome this positive move from council at the busiest time of year for our retailers and especially now for those classed as non essential that will be forced to close from next Friday.
"Whilst we understand that hard decisions have to be made during this pandemic, the news...forced everyone to change plans significantly this weekend and next week which is difficult to manage for retailers at such short notice."