Restrictions on Sunday trading hours to be lifted in the Chancellor's budget

One of the largest changes to trading laws is set to be revealed on Wednesday. The Chancellor is poised to lift the Sunday restrictions on trading and allow Britain's towns and cities decide how long shops may stay open on Sunday, putting an end to the national ban on large stores open for more than 6 hours.

Under current legislation, bigger retailers in the UK, including supermarkets, are only allowed to be open for business for six hours between 10 am and 6 pm on Sundays, although shops that have less than 3,000 square feet of floor space can remain open all day of they choose so.

The decision comes after trading laws were suspended during the eight weeks before, during and after the London Olympic games in 2012, which resulted in a sales boost of 3.2 percent, according to The Times. George Osborne believes that a lift on Sunday trading restrictions could in turn lift the economy, as there is additional research suggesting that expanding Sunday trading hours by two hours in London would create an additional 3,000 jobs and an extra income of 200 million pounds.

The Chancellor, who will keep the restrictions on Christmas and Easter Sunday, also believes that decisions regarding Sunday trading hours should be up to local authorities, so areas that think longer opening hours could increase local economic activity are free to do so. "Even two decades on from the introduction of the Sunday Trading Act, it is clear that there is still a growing appetite for shopping on a Sunday," said Osborne on the budget. "There is some evidence that transactions for Sunday shopping are actually growing faster than those for Saturday."

"The rise of online shopping, which people can do around the clock, also means more retailers want to be able to compete by opening for longer at the weekend. But this won't be right for every area, so I want to devolve the power to make this decision to mayors and local authorities...This will be another part of my plan to ensure a truly national recovery, with our great towns and cities able to determine their own futures."