Downing St: longer Sunday opening hours could stay

“The legislation means that it is there for a defined period. I am sure that people will want to reflect on the experience of those weeks. A number of people want to look at this issue.”

Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, said at the weekend that the idea should be “looked at” after the Games.

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, is understood to oppose the idea, opening a new rift after rows over Lords reforms and changes to Parliamentary boundaries.

Some Tory MPs are also anxious that the move could harm corner shops, which have an advantage over supermarkets as they are allowed to open round the clock.

Senior Tory backbench MP Mark Pritchard said on Monday that the Government had got it “wrong” by pushing to extend Sunday trading hours.

He said: “The fact is that the Government says that it needs more growth in the economy, we would all support that, but I don’t think extending Sunday trading hours would necessarily bring about significant growth.

“I think that in business taxes getting red tape and bureaucracy of small businesses do far more than extending Sunday business trading hours and I think the Government, whilst positive and wanting to be positive for business, just got this wrong.”

Mr Pritchard said the Government should state clearly whether it wants to extend the 'open all hours' culture to Sunday for large retailers.

He said: “The fact is many people spend Sunday with their families, they decide to go to Church, just have some down time and if the Government want to see Sunday like every other training day then I think they should be explicit and say it.

“Of course when the extension to Sunday training hours went ahead, they said that this would be temporary only.”

Mr Pritchard said workers should have a day of the week where they can have a break from their jobs. He said: “I think all of us deserve rest and that includes shop workers.

“I mean if somebody as somebody who has worked in a shop on a Sunday, and not every Conservative MP has done that, I know that there is a lot of pressure on workers to turn up, there’s a question of whether people are overlooked for promotion."