Changes to Sunday opening times at The Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland ahead of Christmas - here's what it means

The city’s Bridges centre has announced that it is to extend its trading times from the first weekend of next month. From Sunday, November 6, the centre will open an hour earlier, allowing people to shop from 10am until 4pm.

Centre director Karen Eve said the move was a result of requests from both shoppers and retailers, in response to the number of visitors who come to the centre early on Sundays.

She believes the move will be a hit: “We know that every week we have a large number of shoppers in the centre long before we officially open at 11am,” she said. “We’ve taken that into account, plus a request from many of our retailers to open earlier, and we are delighted that we are now going to be able to do this.

“We hope it will be particularly helpful to people who are now starting to think about Christmas and may not be able to get out during the week so can now shop early and still enjoy the rest of their Sunday.”

The announcement comes ahead of the Bridges revealing its plans in the run-up to the festive season, which will include extended late night shopping, the return of the Christmas grotto and the popular Reindeer Run. There are also a number of special events planned, including Breakfast with Santa.