INDEPENDENT shops in Wellington are being offered a helping hand by town Cllr Marcus Barr to survive the continuing Covid-19 pandemic.

Cllr Barr, who works as a window cleaner across a large area of Somerset, is offering to clean shop fronts free of charge for the next 18 months.

He has already been cleaning a number of shop windows in the town for free since August and planned to do so until the end of April.

But, with a wave of the new Covid variant Omicron hitting the country he has now decided to extend the offer.

Cllr Barr, who is also a district councillor for Rockwell Green, told the Wellington Weekly: “With the country’s vaccination programme going so well it seemed like society was gradually returning to normal and the economy would bounce back quickly by next spring.

“But now we see things seem to have started going into reverse because of the new variant strain of the virus and our businesses are bound to take a knock again as a result.

“I understand the struggles some people have felt over the last 18 months with Covid-19 and with so much business moving online.

“And I have seen for myself how some other communities have started to become ghost towns as businesses fail due to the pressures they are under.

“I really value what a lot of people in Wellington have been doing during the pandemic to make our town’s shops a success and I would like to do my bit to help.

“So, I thought what better way to help than to use my own window cleaning skills to allow shops to save money which they can then use in other ways to help stay afloat.”

Cllr Barr said the offer was for fortnightly shop front cleans until the end of June, 2023, and was for independently owned shops and not for those which were part of larger chains.

He said: “We are so lucky that we have so many independent shops in Wellington, like Frame of Mind, Talent Gallery, Shooz, The Pub, Odette’s tea room, and the new Bookshop by the Blackdowns, to name just a handful.

“They help to make us a vibrant town which is good for everyone in Wellington and helps to bring people together and attract visitors to spend their money here.”

To take up the offer by Cllr Barr businesses should email [email protected].