A NEW charity shop is set to open in Clevedon’s town centre.

The RSPCA has the keys to the former Shoe Tree shop in Old Church Road where refurbishment work will take place before it reopens as an RSPCA shop in a few weeks.

This will add to the stores the charity also has in Nailsea, Yatton and Weston.

Clevedon is already host to numerous charity shops including St Peter’s Hospice, Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary, MIND, Break, Age UK and Cancer Research.

In October, independent traders in Clevedon launched a campaign calling for a national cap on the number of charity shops allowed to open in a single area.

Traders are concerned about the ability of independent businesses to compete with charity shops, which are given a significant business rate discount, and those with larger budgets allowing them to buy in stock rather than rely on donations.