Farm shops in Herefordshire are hopeful that the trend of shopping local continues as the cost of living crisis continues.

Local producers and farm shops have seen a resurgence due to the Covid restrictions and people localising their shopping.

British shoppers spent an extra 63 per cent at food and drink specialist stores, such as butchers, bakeries and greengrocers, in February 2021 compared to the same month in 2020, according to data from Barclaycard payments, and shops are hopeful this is a trend that looks set to continue.

Gill Yemm who runs Pengethley Farm Shop, near Ross-on Wye said that the shop gained a lot of custom during the pandemic and is hopeful that the extra people seemed to have stayed loyal to the shop.

She said: "Our customers have been very loyal to us, and we have noticed that since people have been allowed to mix again, the amount of one off visitors that we've had has started to increase again with people choosing to holiday in the UK rather than abroad.

"I think people's shopping habits are beginning to change, people are more environmentally aware and more than ever are aware of where their food is coming from. We almost exclusively use Herefordshire suppliers apart from obvious things like citrus fruits that can't be grown here.

"We are holding our own in a tricky environment and grateful to our customers for sticking with us."

Richard Jones, butcher at the Quarry Farm Shop in Luston, near Leominster, says that the cost of living crisis is making things very difficult but is hopeful that things will start to improve, and their loyal customers will help see the shop through a tricky time.

He said: "We had a good couple of years during the pandemic but the recent rise in fuel and electricity prices has been a huge shock. We got the electric bill recently and it had risen from £950 a month to £1650 a month.

"It feels unsustainable in the long term. Hopefully it proves to be a short term problem and things improve."