THE 'non-essential' items ban in Wales' supermarkets continues to divide opinion.

During the 'fire break' or 'circuit break' lockdown period, currently in its third day in Wales, supermarkets have been told to stop selling items deemed 'non-essential' – such as clothes, toys, electricals, and cookware.

Welsh ministers have said the reason behind the ban is two-fold. Firstly, it reduces the ability to browse items at a time when people should only be leaving their homes for 'essential' reasons.

Secondly, it prevents supermarkets having a monopoly over such items during the 'fire break' period, while many other retailers have been forced to close down completely.

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This weekend, we took to social media to ask our readers for their views on the changes in Welsh supermarkets as a result of the rule.

We had hundreds of responses covering a wide range of opinions and strong feelings on the subject.

Here is a snapshot of our readers' responses.

­— 'It just doesn't make sense'

James Correra said the rule was "ridiculous" and it was subjective to call some items 'non-essential'.

"What might not be essential to one person is essential to another," he said, citing the ban on sales of books and baby clothes. "Newborn babies can't get clothes, people who turn to books to ease their mind with mental health concerns – yet alcohol and fireworks are essential."

Others agreed. Terri Blake said: "You can buy a tin of beans but no tin opener to open them? It just doesn't make sense in my eyes."

Monika Jusyte said: "What's 'non-essential' to someone might be very essential to other people. For example books [and] games could be very essential for shielding/disabled people and kids during lockdown. I just think it's ridiculous to tell people what they can and cannot buy."

Kelly Smyth said the ban was especially harsh on some people.

"I feel for the women having babies and needing baby clothes [and] bottles," she said. "I feel for the children and for those who have a birthday during this. They are going to have to go without even birthday cards and balloons."

­— 'The greater good'

Donna Garrett said the ban made sense to protect other shops.

She said: "The reason is to be fair across the board on other non essential shops that have had to close. Imagine if you had a clothes shop and had to close but Tesco, Asda etc are still allowed to sell clothes. You wouldn't be happy – it's called equality."

Other readers said the ban was justified as part of the wider efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Among them was Karen Williams, who said: "Maybe this a simple way to limit the time we spend browsing non-essential items, and thus diminishing the time in which we can spread the virus from one to another.

"At the moment we all need to consider the bigger picture, and sacrifice things we don’t really need for the greater good."

Suzanne Price said people needed to "stop all the moaning and groaning".

She added: "It’s two weeks, for goodness sake. Maybe if people had observed the rules previously, and not gone out visiting people and going to pubs when areas were in local lockdown, the whole country would not be in lockdown now."

Hayleigh Jones made a similar point. She said: "If people were careful and followed the guidelines correctly then we wouldn’t be in this situation. Instead of having a go at the the politicians who were forced to make this decision, maybe you should place the blame on the minority of people who ignored the rules."

­— 'People will go online'

Many readers said the ban could push people towards online retailers that are free to sell 'non-essential' items during the lockdown period.

Lyn Phillips said the 'non-essential' item ban "sounds fair," but added: "People will go online and many don’t come back from that sort of shopping. Another nail in the high street/local shopping [coffin]."

Claire Barton said the ban was "a step too far".

"I know it's only two weeks and chances are the majority of us will cope with not being able to buy this stuff," she said. "But the point is, there will be people who genuinely need new clothes, a new kettle, a new duvet or pillow – and the fear and worry at not being able to get what they need as soon as possible will be real.

"Yes, some (not all) could order online but it's unlikely to be delivered within 24 hours – unless it's from Amazon, and then how is that helping the smaller shops in the long run?"