One of the business which re-opened on Monday in Midsomer Norton was the jewellery and homewares shops Out of Asia - which has been in the town for just shy of 28 years.

And the ladies who are behind the counter have also worked together for all that time.

Owner Karen Starr calls Lynne Powell, who is her assistant and 'right hand woman', and it is clear that they share a close bond.

Karen told Nub News : " I opened in Holly Court first, in a little shop in the corner for two years, then I moved to a bigger one in Holly Court and then I came here (to the High Street itself)."

The birthday of the business will be on December 1st.

While agreeing that the coronavirus lockdown has been tough, Karen does not hesitate when we asked if she had ever considered not re-opening. " No - never - we were never not going to come back. No doubt about it at all, as long as people wanted us back...

" We have a saying in here and we have been saying it for quite a few years. That is 'We will stay open as long as people shop'.

" You can't live on fresh air, it's simple if the people want the stores to be open they have to shop locally, otherwise the shops will disappear."

The pair are full of praise for their customers.

" People are very good," said Lynne. " They are cautious but lots of people have just stuck their head around the door and said lovely to see you open."

Karen added: " We can only let in a couple of people at a time because we are limited for space but everyone has been brilliant, no one has complained. They know what they have to do - you don't need to have hundreds of signs everywhere. "

The shop cleans everything - they have hand sanitizer available - and they serve people from behind perspex.

Karen said: " I actually wanted to open on the first of June. But I followed the guidance. But it is costing shops a lot of money to put all the precautions in place, people have forgotten that - it has been a fortune for a lot of shops. "

Karen pointed to her own perspex screen and said she looked on line where for her counter she could have paid about £400 - a big spend for a small shop.

" We are in Midsomer Norton so we are never going to have queues like Primark are we ?"

Out of Asia is currently open 10- 4 Monday to Saturday.