Allan Blackburn, centre manager and owner of GB Antiques and Lancaster Leisure Park, asks should we spend our Sundays, spending?

TRULY this season of Christmas countdown, with all the shopping panic that implies, sparks the age-old debate as to where we truly worship: church, or the shrine of consumerism?

As, a committed family man and good father, yet also the owner of an antiques centre and busy leisure park that trades seven days a week, it’s a question I have been asked, and asked of myself.

Recent surveys report gloomily on dropping church attendances. Notwithstanding our becoming a more multicultural and multi-faith society, for the first time, more than half the UK population (53 per cent) say they have no religion, according to the British Social Attitudes survey.

It’s not hard to see what has overtaken organised religion as a Sunday pursuit, especially at this time of year: shopping.

Since the Sunday Trading Act came into force in July 1994, there has been a steady year-on-year increase in Sunday retail revenue, even in recent years of slumping high street sales.

Opponents of Sunday trading see it as a symbol of the creeping commercialisation and secularisation of British society, leading to loss of community cohesion, and the decline of quality childhood.

Religion apart, for those simply wanting a different pace of life, focused on the family, that ideal vision can be compelling.

However, looking out onto the leisure park, I see many, many families spending time together, which I suspect they would not, were our attractions closed.

It’s not just high streets and vast retail parks that come under Sunday trading scrutiny, but a vast range of smaller outlets: independent shops, craft centres, tea rooms, petting farms.

At the park, families pick activities to suit different members. Parents browse the antiques centre, factory outlet or farm shop, while children burn off energy in the soft play area or gym, regrouping in the restaurant (or brewery!)

It’s wonderful to think that were Sunday kept 'special', we’d all head outdoors for healthy fell walks and educational pond dipping. Yes, many do, but let’s not kid ourselves.

And when the famed North West rain drives in sideways, without the sheltering shops, how many of us would really be clustered around communal board games? Undoubtedly most would be alone, captivated by those mesmerising gadgets and screens.

And with loneliness now recognised as a major societal and mental health issue, any opportunity for young and old alike to be out; meeting, chatting, observing, interacting, is increasingly being seen as beneficial for well-being.

Perhaps what we’re coming to is choice. For many, Sunday has never been the traditional (or only) religious day, already fitting religious observance into 'regular' days. So why not the full choice on Sundays too: how, when and if to worship, shop or socialise?

Increasing choices in how we shop are behind calls for an increase to Sunday trading hours to halt the unprecedented cull of high street stalwarts.

Do the Sunday trading laws (conceived in 1994, well before 24-hour online shopping became the norm) need to be extended to protect our high streets, jobs, and yes, coming full-circle, opportunities for family recreational time?

The big moral consideration is (or certainly should be) the workers? In 1994, 2.1 million people regularly worked Sundays (8.5 per cent of the workforce). By 2015 (the latest figures) this had more than doubled to 5.2 million (16.7 per cent), and is undoubtedly higher now. Unions fear increased opening hours will hurt the poorly paid and already exploited.

High street or online, morality or Mammon? With Poland and Italy recently passing laws restricting Sunday trading, and bankrupt local councils lobbying to increase it, this debate is nowhere near closing time.