A town is marking the “end of an era” as a shop has become the last to call time on long-standing tradition.

Every business in Sandwich used to close early on Wednesdays - but in recent years, ironmongers T.R & C. Carpenter was the only one left doing so.

Now, the store - which opened in Cattle Market in 1956 - is following other traders in ending the 1pm shutdowns.

Sales assistant Martin Hayes told KentOnline: “This is a bit of an end of an era with regard to one of Sandwich’s quirky traditions.

“So many of the locals use our shop and we feel by opening longer we can be there for them more when they need us.”

Since Monday, the shop’s opening hours have switched to 8.30am to 5.30pm Mondays to Fridays and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays.

Before that, the shop closed at 5pm on all trading days except Wednesdays.

The tradition had been based on Deal having a market day on a Wednesday.

Sandwich traders would shut early that day to give them the chance to attend.

Early closing is remembered as a common trend of most British shops during much of the 20th century.

T.R & C. Carpenter’s proprietor Joe Quinn told KentOnline: “Nationally I think it had something to do with different regions having market days at different times.

“I used to live in South London and there were quite a few markets that changed between a Wednesday or a Thursday.

“Deal had their market on Wednesdays and Sandwich on Thursdays so quite a few tradespeople used to close early on Wednesday to take advantage of the market in Deal and I believe vice-versa.”

But Mr Quinn explained that there are specific 21st century reasons for ending the tradition.

He said: “We have found that footfall has started to go up. People are doing DIY a little bit more often and we have seen an upsurge in demand for the services that we offer.

“This also offsets cost rises, so adding extra trading hours is always a bonus.”