'Heatwave turned high street into a ghost town'

A number of high street businesses have said they reduced their hours or closed during June's extreme heat.

Dorchester, in Dorset, is home to more than 200 independent shops and while more stayed open than closed, the town's Business Improvement District (BID) is offering a subsidy on portable air conditioning units and fans.

The UK saw its warmest June on record as temperatures reached 37.7C (99.9F) and another heatwave is likely to be declared in the the coming days as temperatures soar again.

Suzy Conway who runs a shop in Dorchester said on the hottest day she was "melting" in her shop and it was so quiet there was "no point" in staying open.

"The weather has had a direct impact on business," said Phil Gordon, the BID Project Director.

"Not so much the businesses themselves, but the reluctance of people coming out because of the heat."

To help local independents, the BID have come up with an emergency project.

Gordon explained it is to "offer businesses a 20% subsidy on anything from portable aircon units through to fans".

"Some businesses wouldn't be able to afford a thousand pound aircon unit but they can certainly afford to buy two or three fans," he added.

"We're hoping that if we get hit again by another heatwave as we inevitably will be we'll be able to actually have some cooler shops and cooler customers."

Conway said she to closed her shop, Every Cloud, on the hottest day of the heatwave because she was "melting".

"There was just no point in being here, there was nobody around and the shop itself was really hot," she said.

"There was no air con, I've got really thick walls which actually is freezing in the winter and you'd think it would keep it cool in the summer."

Sandra Jordan, who owns a jewellers on Dorchester High Street, has put reflective strips across the glass on her shop to keep the premises cooler.

"We found that our display bus were actually melting in the window so we've really been hit by the heat this year," Jordan said.

"We stayed open even though nobody was out and you can't blame people, especially because Dorset is, you know, there's a lot of older people here.

"And I think, you know, genuinely, people really struggled with the heat. The footfall in town was definitely impacted," she added.

Describing what working in the heat was like, Helen, who works at the jewellers said it was stifling: "Normally we have a lovely through breeze when we open the back doors, but there was absolutely no air circulating whatsoever.

"We went to buy ice creams to cool down, try and keep cool but, you know, half of the high street It actually ended up closing on the super hot days.

"Nobody was about, it was just unbearable, unbearable heat."