Sunday Trading

The Cinema Bookshop, and Booth's Bookshop, were closed on Easter Sunday, by law. During the rest of the year, both shops are only able to open for restricted hours on Sundays. (I think The Bookshop on the Pavement may come under this legislation, too). It's because of the floor space - the shops are so big they come under the same rules as supermarkets for the purposes of the Sunday Trading Laws. There are so few bookshops of that size that I suppose nobody thought about it when the law was being drafted.
On Sunday, a gentleman came up to the Cinema and found that he couldn't get in. He came back on Monday, and we had a little chat while I served him. "I'm an MP," he said, "and, do you know, I voted for the Sunday Trading Law. If I'd known then that it meant I couldn't get into a bookshop on Easter Sunday, I might have thought twice!"