The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) is calling on government to exempt garden centres from what it calls the "outdated" 1994 Sunday Trading Act.
The association believes some of the regulations introduced by the act - which came into force 20 years ago - are unfair to garden centres. They are covered by the act purely because of their large size, says the HTA, which is a necessity because of the sort of products they sell.

The HTA argues that while having restricted Sunday opening hours causes significant economic implications for garden centres, consumers also suffer.

Garden centres play important roles as leisure destinations for families and hobby gardeners, supporting 20m people throughout the UK who enjoy gardening. Gardening is a healthy, family activity which encourages outdoor exercise, the association says, and helps us nurture our relationship with nature, wildlife and the natural food we eat.

However, Sunday trading restrictions mean families and gardeners only have a very limited time period on Sundays during which they can get supplies and plants from garden centres.

The idea that garden centres should be treated the same as large supermarket chains is further compounded by the false belief that garden centres only require staff during shop opening hours, the HTA says. Staff have to work to maintain and water plants and re-stock shelves, whilst not being allowed to open the tills to customers.

The association also argues that the act is particularly out of touch in light of the growing 24/7 internet trading culture.

Raoul Curtis-Machin, head of horticulture at the HTA, said: "The Sunday Trading Act is an anachronism in this day and age, especially with 24-hour internet retail on the rise. Gardening is an important and healthy hobby which should be supported by government rather than be affected by unnecessary bureaucratic burden."