Shops in a County Durham town advised to close early last week following violent disorder across the region have spoken of how it affected their businesses.

Several shops in Bishop Auckland shut their doors last Wednesday (August 7) after social media posts suggesting that a demonstration was to take place in the town centre.

The owner of Marvellous Toys on Newgate Street told The Northern Echo that his father was looking after the shop that day.

Following the rumours of potential disorder in Bishop Auckland, the owner said his dad was “politely” advised to close by police at about 3.45pm “in case anything happened”.

Thankfully there was no trouble, but he said that the situation, as well as the incidents across the North East and the rest of the UK, had left him concerned for his father.

He noted the store’s business had not performed poorly on the day, but said footfall had been affected by the news the disorder could have spread to the town.

The owner said: “My dad helped run my shop while I was away and we warned him not to go in. He wanted to open for business, so he opened Tuesday and Wednesday."

He said his father followed the advice to close the business early on Wednesday, adding “Nothing happened at all, just the usual kids going up and down on bikes, that was it really.

“We were really worried about my dad, but he wanted to do it. We did okay still. By that time, quite a lot of the police were everywhere.”

The shop’s owner said word of potential disorder in the town centre had some effect on business in the town and led to several closing their doors for the day.

“It scared a lot of people away, definitely,” he added.

He added large retailers such as ASDA, Peacocks, and Morrisons closed, while smaller businesses such as Lava’s Barbers and Devilish Vapes also shut up shop for the day.

An employee of Devilish Vapes said the shop was fine but she had been left concerned by the violence which had taken place in Hartlepool, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Darlington.

She said: “I was worried about the shop, because I’ve seen them when they’ve raided the vape shops and stuff.

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“I’m just glad that we’ve got cameras.”

She called the acts taking place across the North East brutal and labelled the demonstrators as “pathetic.”

An employee at Pools Surplus Stores said he was concerned by the events of last week after seeing demonstrators “targeting shops, breaking into homes, and causing lots of grief”.