Published: July 23, 2012
At last! Good weather boosts business for Burnham-On-Sea traders

Good weather and the start of the summer school holidays gave traders in Burnham-On-Sea a much-needed boost over the weekend.

Temperatures reached 23.7 Centigrade (74F) on Sunday as the town enjoyed non-stop sunshine, bringing visitors flocking to the town and beach, as pictured.

After one of the worst starts to the season in decades, the boost has been welcomed by businesses.

Louise Parkin from Burnham Pavilion told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "The good weather is long overdue after a very disappointing year so far - we've seen our worst start to the season for over 30 years."

"We'll need a good September and October to make up for the terrible start to the season, but it's been a brilliant weekend and we have our fingers crossed for more good weather," she said.

Mike Bond, who runs Burnham's Subway franchise and Esplanade Fish Bar, added: "The good weather certainly helped us this weekend, bringing in extra visitors. However, the economy is still depressed and trade is not as good as should be for this time of year."

Accommodation providers say they had a busy weekend as well. "After the wash-outs of recent weeks, it was great to get some good weather and see a surge in bookings," said one camp site owner in Brean. "Trade is well down for the year, so we need a long spell of good weather to make up for it."

Pictured: Shoppers in the busy High Street on Saturday and visitors on Burnham beach on Sunday