A TAVISTOCK resident is continuing to fly the flag for high street shops, following a test a month ago to compare supermarket shopping with buying local.

After supporting more than 12 local food suppliers and four independent shops instead of going to the supermarket one week, Lisa Wadling concluded that not only had she spent no extra money, but she enjoyed the experience of talking to the shopkeepers.

Since then she has been encouraged by the many letters in the Times from people supporting her actions.

She said in the past month she had been doing as much of her shopping in independent stores as possible, based on what she would normally buy in the supermarket.

She said in one shop she could buy four pints of milk for 99p and it could be delivered free of charge.

Lisa said: 'They offered me a loyalty card where every £4 I spend I get a stamp and with ten stamps I get 20% off my shopping.

'There are also deliveries on vegetables and fruit in town and a buy online site for one of the butchers where local delivery is free when you spend over £10.

'I know not everybody has the time to go around the shops, but with free delivery and buy online now available it's worth looking at.

'I really enjoy visiting the shops and have met some lovely people in the process.'

She said that it all started for her when she came across a Facebook group called Tavistock Buy Local: 'The group was started about six weeks ago by a local resident called Rachel Harrison French.

'It now has over 225 members including local businesses that put offers on and new products.

'It has people sharing bargains they have discovered and asking each other's advice on products.

'I have even bought a slow cooker because of the recipes I kept seeing on the site.

'I will continue to buy locally as it's such an enjoyable experience and I now know where my food comes from and I have a lot less packaging to throw away.'

Lisa said she was not anti-supermarket in any way and still shopped in these stores but by buying locally money was going back into the local economy.

Chairman of the Tavistock Business Improvement District (BID) Tony Whitehead said he welcomed anything that helped to increase the footfall in the town centre.

'By coming into town to do food shopping and other essentials, people get to see the whole of what Tavistock has to offer including the many speciality shops.

'The more people that come into the town centre the better it is for everybody.'