Never mind going to church, watering the lawn or roast dinner at the in-laws - hitting the shops is now one of the nation's favourite Sunday pastimes.

In the ten years since the rules were changed to allow shops in England and Wales to open on Sundays, the traditional day of rest has become anything but.

More than two thirds of retailers now say Sunday is the second-biggest shopping day of the week behind Saturday, according to a survey by commercial law firm Bond Pearce.

The Sunday Trading Act, which came into force ten years ago today, allows larger shops, including department stores, to open for six hours on a Sunday, while small shops are allowed to open freely.

Tony Askham, a partner at Bond Pearce, said the survey showed trading had become a "fixture" on Sunday and that the 1994 Act had been an "engine for economic and social change".

That sentiment was echoed by Emma Harrop, co-director of gift shop Velvet, which is about to open its fourth store in Brighton and Hove since opening in 2001.

She said: "Sunday is about on a par with Friday as our second biggest shopping day of the week. We usually open at 11am because it's so quiet in the morning.

"Sunday has its own characteristics - one being the slow starts.

"It really gets busy between 2pm and 4pm, which suggests people get out of bed late, go for something to eat and then work it off in the afternoon.

"There is also a heavy volume of browsers compared to other days of the week.

"Weekdays are for serious shoppers. But lots of browsers leads to more buyers.

"We have always opened on a Sunday. Shopping has become a hobby and it gives families something to do. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Sundays now account for 15 per cent of weekly sales, compared with 6.4 per cent five years ago.

It is perhaps no surprise, then, that more than 70 per cent of retailers questioned in the survey said they would like to extend Sunday retail hours.

Mark Nelson, director of photographic gallery First Light in Nile Street, who served on The Lanes Traders Association for ten years, believes Sunday remains something of an enigma.

He said: "We took the decision to open on a Sunday about four or five years ago because people expected a gallery to be open throughout the week. So instead we closed on a Monday, which is usually dead. Sunday is generally one of our busier days but it is an enigma. I don't think anyone has actually nailed it yet.

"Last Sunday we made £8 all day. The week before that we made well over £1,000."

Lucy Tunstall, marketing co-ordinator at Churchill Square shopping centre in Brighton, said: "Saturday is still definitely our busiest day in terms of people through the door.

"Sunday is probably as busy as Friday and busier than the rest of the days in the week."

Some traders still do not believe in opening on Sunday.

One shopkeeper said: "I just refuse to have anything to do with Sunday trading. All it means is longer hours for retailers.

"The next step is 24-hour opening. Where does it end?"

Thursday August 26, 2004