An island farm shop is reducing its opening hours for the autumn and winter months because of customer demand, food wastage and staffing costs.

The Isle of Man Farm Shop in Glen Helen will be closed on Wednesdays and will open from 10am to 5.30pm on the other days.

Owner Matt Harrison announced the changes in a message to customers, explaining that the business had been trading seven days a week for six months.

He said he had wanted to wait before deciding which days were the quietest and would allow the business to have time to restock and regroup.

Mr Harrison said: ‘Much like any business I have to weigh up customer demand versus stocking, wastage and staff costs. All of which as I’m sure you are aware is quite demanding.’

He said Monday had deliberately not been chosen as the closure day because it was the only day off for many customers.

‘Wednesday is the quietest day,’ he said.

‘As a result the Farm Shop from and including next week will be closed on a Wednesday for the autumn and winter period.

‘We will go back to seven days a week in spring and summer. But at the moment it doesn’t make financial sense to be open seven days.

‘And we all need a bit of time off.’

The shop will also move to a 10am opening time each day it is open.

Mr Harrison said the changes followed six months of trading every day and would allow the business to better balance demand with its operating costs.

He added that the shop would continue to hold events during the coming months, including Christmas activities, markets, visits from Santa and a light walk, as well as late-night openings.

Mr Harrison thanked customers for their continued support and said he hoped the changes would not cause too much inconvenience.