A Monmouth trader hopes that the late night shopping in town she arranged with other businesses will help save her shop.

Wendy Watkins of Wye Weight says her daily takings plummetted when the roadworks began in town leading to her call for late opening on a Thursday evening in a bid to bring some trade back to her shop.

She has now managed to get over 30 other businesses to support her in a campaign to bring some life back to the High Street after she was down to 40 percent of her normal takings.

“We got some footfall which I was happy with as we only put it together in a couple of days.

“We did about a third of the normal day’s takings in those three hours

“A lot of people have come in to chat and said they would support us during late-night shopping and it just gives people the chance to come into town after work.

“The congestion has got such a bad name now that people avoid it so it’s just to give shoppers an option,” she told the Beacon.

“The struggle is trying to get some of the big ones to join in, they say they are losing money consistently and will consider it but it obviously has to go through head office with the bigger shops,” she added.

She and her partner Steve have not been taking an income from the shop to try to keep it going, having been trading for four years now.

They both have second jobs and Wendy is looking for another job with flexible hours to try to keep her dream alive.

“If this works, we intend to keep it going provided the other independents are happy to do so.

“We are trying to sell it as an evening: browse the shops, get some food, go for a coffee and. when the clocks change, get an ice cream and go by the river.

“I still have bills to pay, I can’t buy loads of stuff in bulk if I don't have the cash to do it. It’s getting to the point where I can't restock unless I have a good weekend,” she said.