Coal Delivery Affected by Shops Act
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I T is expected that Sheffield traders will be affected by the decision of the city magistrates in a case—said to be the first of its kind in the country— which brought forward a new interpretation of Section 9 of the Shops Act. Barkby, jolliffe and Co., Ltd., 22, High Street, Sheffield, was charged with unlawfully carrying on a retail business of a coal dealer at a time when it was illegal to keep a shop open for that purpose, by reason of the Sheffield (Retail Coal Dealers) Shops Weekly Half Holiday Order, 1936, and contrary to Section 9 of the Shops Act, 1912. The defendant was fined 5s.
Mr. Oakley, announcing the decision, said that the Sheffield Holiday Order of 1936 required all shops in the city, in which the retail sale of coal was carried on, to be closed on Thursdays or Saturdays not later than 2 p.m. At about 2.30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, the defendant, by means of a lorry, was delivering coal in a retail quantity which had been previously ordered. The lorry was not a shop, said Mr. Oakley, and the driver and mate were not shop assistants, as defined by the Shops Act, 1912, but delivering coal was part of the business of a coal retailer.
Mr. Philip Howe, for the defence, had previously submitted that delivering goods ordered in advance did not represent carrying on a retail business.
Mr. A. Senior, secretary of the Sheffield and District Coal Merchants Association, states that the decision will affect between 400 and 500 coal dealers in Sheffield. • It would provide a definite.' ruling that the public must not expect delivery on the half-day closing, and would prevent hawking in the streets.