Shops say schools’ lunchtime lock-in hits trade

Jul 8 2008 by Lisa Jones, South Wales Echo THE income generated by schoolchildren eating out at lunchtime is helping to keep small businesses afloat, they claim. Chip shops, newsagents and supermarket owners have all spoken of their mixed feelings about the controversial suggestion to keep secondary school children on site during lunchtimes. The idea was put forward by Cardiff West Labour MP Kevin Brennan, who is also Minister for Schools in England, as part of a healthy eating drive. But it has come in for strong criticism in Wales. For shopkeepers, though the mass exodus from playground to stores at lunchtimes can sometimes prove a nuisance, the communities into which they filter rely on the income they generate. In Countisbury Avenue, Llanrumney, Cardiff, traders have seen a dip in their takings since pupils from Rumney... [read full story]