After a weekend of turmoil a dessert bar and candy store operator has decided to stay open during the month-long second lockdown.

Donna Ioannou of IJustWannaCandy and IJustWannaTreatUS in Market Gates, Great Yarmouth, said the two stores were allowed to keep trading under Government guidelines.

The dessert bar was already a takeaway and the US-style candy stores sold enough grocery and bakery products to quality.

Mrs Ioannou said she had been “in turmoil” over the weekend trying to work out what to do for her business and staff - who all wanted to carry on working.

Having opened up the dessert bar just a few weeks before lockdown and then been forced to close she had had to build the business for a second time.

Under a slightly less severe lockdown which would see Burger King and other food outlets nearby trading as a takeaway, it meant the shopping centre would have more entrances open and see some limited passing trade, aiding her decision.

She said: “We had built up customer momentum, we had this fabulous start but when we reopened we had to start again.

“If we shut it could kill us completely.

“This way we think we at least have a fighting chance.”

She said shoppers would find extra Covid restrictions including limits on the number of people in both stores.

Staying open would give the staff a purpose and bring “a little bit of pleasure” to people finding the lockdown hard.

“People do not have to be in total isolation as before,” she said.

“We can have a walk with a friend outside, go and get a takeaway and have a few of the little pleasures and normality in our lives that were missing during the last lockdown.”

On Monday (November 1) Yarmouth town centre was busier than usual with people looking to make the most of the remaining Christmas shopping days to visit their favourite stores before Thursday, November 5 when the second lockdown comes into force.

Some said they were convinced the lockdown would last longer, while others expressed fears that many of the shops they liked might not be trading when the restrictions were lifted.