MORRISONS stores in Dorcan and Regant Circus are introducing a ‘quiet hour’ to help people with autism shop around the store.

The shop is working with the National Autistic Society who are leading the Quieter Hour initiative to introduce the hour every Saturday from 9 -10am.

During the quieter hour the store will help autistic people, who can find it difficult to process noisy and busy environments, by dimming the lights, avoid making tannoy announcements, reduce movement of trolleys, and even turn checkout beeps and other electrical noises down.

Daniel Cadey, from the National Autistic Society said: “Around 700,000 people are on the autism spectrum in the UK. This means they see, hear and feel the world differently to other people, often in a more intense way. Morrisons ‘Quieter Hour’ is a step in the right direction for autistic people who find supermarket shopping a real struggle.”

Chris Deacon, manager at Morrisons on Dorcan Way, said: “Our initial trials showed there is a need for a quieter shopping experience. We hope that these changes make a real difference for some of our customers in store.”