ALEX Blackham, 45, and his wife, Samantha, 35, have two children, eight-year-old Thomas, and 17-year-old Sophie.

The family live in Darlington and together the couple run The Diner in the town’s covered market.

Mr Blackham said: “I am an optimist and I always believe things can only get better as the famous song goes. I always look on the bright side of life.

“The amount of change isn’t a massive amount, and yes it will affect some people, but for normal people national decisions don’t seem to make much of a difference. Things that do make a difference are decisions and the cuts made by local councils and that is what people are more worried about.

“We have been lucky in that The Diner has been successful, we have not seen much of a difference in the amount of money people have as people are still coming in as often as they used to.

“Over the past few years we have had to compromise though, but that is what family life is all about. I don’t take anywhere near the number of holidays I used to, but we have managed to find things that are more affordable instead.

“I used to have a car and a van, now I only have a big family car. I use public transport when I need to and it’s worked fine – we have compromised.

“People have been though wars and survived them, this recession is nothing compared to them. We need to take a leaf out of their books and just get on with it.”