'Support us at Christmas so we can survive', say traders

Sarah Thorp runs the independent art shop Room 212 on Gloucester Road and is frank about what Christmas means to traders like her.

"This is our busiest time of the year, we hope. It's the time that gets us through the next year," she said.

Her shop sells ceramics, jewellery and prints from local artists, but for the past decade she has arranged a Christmas shopping evening on her stretch of the street to entice people to support local.

This year's event took place on Thursday and involved a street party with lots of free food and activities.

"It's a really lovely, community-type event," she said.

"People round here are great, they really like to support us and buy local rather than buy online.

"It's much more personal and it all feeds back into the community."