SHOPPERS keen to buy fresh food, clothes, and even movies from Accrington Market can now do so over the phone thanks to a personal shopper.

Keen-eyed Kirsty Lauder, who spends her days whizzing round the market collecting residents’ shopping, said the new service is ideal for technophobes who still want to support local shops and enjoy their produce.

The 23-year-old has now shot a new ‘day-in-the-life’ style video which takes customers through each step of placing an order, from picking items online, to Kirsty collecting the products and all the way through to the driver dropping them off at a customer’s front door.

Kirsty said a supermarket style ‘click and collect’ scheme available online has proved popular, and hopes promoting the telephone service will also prove a good move.

She said: “I had one customer say this would be really good for their mum but she does not have a computer.

“This is for people who are not tech-savvy. It’s a really useful thing to have. It’s all well and good talking about what an excellent service we’re providing, but it’s a whole new concept when you can show people a video of what it is that we’re actually doing.”

The ‘click and collect’ scheme was first trialled last year to allow busy shoppers who want to shop locally to be able to browse traders’ goods online, pay for them, and then pick them up from one, single market stall. The ‘unique’ scheme means office workers could buy meat from the butcher, potatoes from the fruit and vegetables stall, and eggs from the dairy stall, pay online, and then pick up their goodstogether on their way home.

Kirsty said: “There’s the option to call me and I’ll source the produce you would like. Even if what you’re after isn’t listed on the website, I can find it and find the best deals to suit you.

“We’ve had great support for the website so far but this video will help us to spread the word a lot more easily .”

The video is available online at: accringtonmarketonline.co.uk To contact Kirsty, or to place an order, call: 07973 870582, email: kirsty@ accringtonmarketonline.co.uk, or visit her office on the balcony at market hall.