Independent shops along High Street in Barry will stay open on Thursdays for late night shopping.

Shops such as The Gallery Boutique, Giggles toy shop, Homemade Wales, and many more, will stay open until 7pm on Thursdays for the next six weeks.

The run-up to Christmas is crucial for local businesses who rely on the festive period for a large portion of their annual earnings.

Fay Blakeley, owner of Homemade Wales , where you can buy gifts and homewares from Welsh artists, suggested the extended opening hours to other businesses on High Street, and they agreed.

She feels that staying open later on Thursdays is an example of what businesses have to do to adapt during the pandemic.

"With so many people working from home, by the time they're done we're closed too," said Fay.

"Lots of people phone me up and ask when I'm open until, which shows they want to come.

"Many residents are saying that they want to shop local, and I think part of adapting through all this as a shop owner is to make it as easy as possible for people to shop."

Fay told Nub News she'd been busy and had noticed an increasing number of people shopping on the Barry high street rather than travelling to Cardiff as they usually would, or spending their money at large online shopping sites such as Amazon.

"One man told me the other day that he was about to buy something on Amazon, but when he remembered he could get it at my shop, he came in specifically to buy it," said Fay.

She also found that using social media throughout the lockdowns has brought in new customers: "One lady came from St Mellons just to buy an item she saw me post on social media. That's just fantastic support.

"There's a reason I'm a bricks and mortar business, not just an online shop.

"I want to give people the time to browse in-store, because it is a very different experience to online shopping.

"Online, someone might buy one thing, but when they come in the shop and look around, they might buy two or three," said Fay.

Customers can also phone ahead and ask for items to be put aside, ready for them to collect.

Fay hopes that the late-night shopping hours will mitigate the financial impact of two lockdowns in Wales.

"Christmas is such a crucial period for businesses, so I'm grateful the lockdown happened when it did.

"I feel for shops in England where they're going to lose out by being in lockdown during their busiest period."