TAUNTON'S newest shop is preparing to close - less than a week after it opened.

But bosses at family-run House of Tweed hope to be back up and running again in the days leading up to Christmas.

The store in East Street welcomed its first customers on Saturday morning.

Then in the evening the Prime Minister announced the closure for a month of all shops selling 'non-essential' items.

The closure from Thursday is the second lockdown as the country tries to defeat the Covid-19 virus.

A company spokesman said: "We decided to open as one of our colleagues lives in Minehead and we think Taunton is a good area.

"We had a brilliant response from customers when we opened on Saturday.

"We are looking at possibly operating a click and collect service on Facebook during lockdown."

The new store is sited in the former Tony Pryce sports shop, which closed earlier this year after more than 30 years in the town.

The House of Tweed spokesman added: "We knew lockdown would be coming, but hopefully we can re-open again for December and people can come out and do their Christmas shopping.

"It's more a long-term project and we'll be in Taunton for a while.

"The closure is completely out of our control, but people's safety is the most important thing."