A SECOND town council Pop-Up shop could be opened in Wellington following the success of the current premises in Fore Street.

The idea has been backed by the council’s town centre committee, which is starting the process of identifying suitable premises, possibly in High Street.

The committee heard that bookings for the Fore Street Pop Up Shop were strong despite the impact of Covid restrictions.

The shop opened in November last year and has since been hailed as a model which towns such as Taunton and Minehead were considering copying.

Cllr John Thorne, who is also one of Wellington’s two county councillors, said: “We have been looking at all sorts of ways to help revitalise the town centre and strengthen its retail appeal, and another pop up shop could be one way to do so.

“Our shop in Fore Street has been far more successful to date than we might have hoped and so the thinking was why not have a second one.

“If we could find somewhere suitable in, say, High Street, then that would also help to spread the footfall further across the town centre.

“We have anecdotal evidence that people would want to hire a second shop as well as continuing to use the first one, although we will need to do more research, of course.

“It could take 12 months or so to get a second pop up shop open but at least we have started the ball rolling.”

Cllr Thorne said any new premises might also be suitable for a Post Office which could be run alongside pop up businesses.

Wellington has been without a Post Office since the former One Stop premises in High Street closed in the summer of last year.