THE advent of six-day opening for Malvern shops was being discussed by the Malvern Gazette 25 years ago.

It seems hard to credit in these days when supermarkets stay open seven days a week, late into the evening and occasionally through the night, that almost all shops everywhere closed for an afternoon each week.

But in 1977, local shops were reporting that results of the experiment, in which the traditional "early closing" day was abandoned, were encouraging

Warwick House said business had increased and that staff favoured the change, sentiments echoed by Elts and the local branches of Woolworth and W H Smith.