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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Catherine Murphy

Rules on supermarkets selling non-essential items during lockdown

On Thursday, England will be starting its second full lockdown which will be in place until December 2 and will see all non-essential stores closing.

During this time, supermarkets will be one of only a few store-types allowed to remain open so people can still shop for essentials.

However the term 'essentials' is causing some confusion. When Wales introduced its circuit breaker it allowed supermarkets to remain open but banned these stores from serving customers with non-essential items such as homeware and books in some cases.

Tesco also caused controversy after it tweeted stating it could not sell tampons to customers in Wales, although the supermarket has since apologised for this.

As it currently stands, the Government has not banned the sale of any non-essential items in English supermarkets.

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Guidance following Saturday's announcement has been updated on the Government's website.

It says people should only leave their home for "basic necessities" and lists examples as food and medicine. It also states these trips should be as infrequent as possible.

Shops like Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Aldi will all be able to continue selling the items you'd usually find in these stores.

Non-essential stores will also be permitted to continue selling items on a click and collect basis.

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