AN online shopping business set up to boost Saltaire trading has received enquiries from more than 100 towns across the UK following a national TV profile.

ShopAppy.com was set up to give residents who live within a five-mile radius a Saltaire the chance to buy goods from their own home from a number of the village’s independent shops.

Users can go on the website at any time and order goods which they are then able to collect.

It was set up initially in Saltaire and also Otley by Jackie Mulligan, a village resident who says she wants to offer an alternative to major supermarkets and online retailers.

More than 60 businesses have now registered to be on the website and it has had over 5,000 visitors since its launch.

The firm’s success was featured on The One Show, on BBC One, which filmed in both Saltaire and Otley. The report said the business was an attempt to revitalise the High Street in its report, which was broadcast last week.

Founder Ms Mulligan, of Victoria Park, Saltaire, who has lived in the village for the last ten years, said her service has received interest from residents in towns from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

She said: “It is great to see that what is happening in Otley and Saltaire has inspired others to try and level the playing field and support independent businesses.

“Demand is there to take ShopAppy anywhere and eight out of ten of the messages that came to me after the show were from customers keen to support their local shops from the site.

“We have had over £2,000 spent in shops online through ShopAppy.com but also new faces and increased footfall in Otley and Saltaire which is really what ShopAppy is all about and what we set out to achieve.

“As more people find out about the facility, the more this new way to shop local will grow.

“It has been interesting to see so many customers on board with this new way to shop local.

“Shopkeepers do need to understand these new demands for convenience and the platform enables shopkeepers to add products easily.”

Saltaire retailers who have signed up to the ShopAppy scheme include greengrocers Orange Grove and Turning Heads, a clothes shop based in Bingley Road, Shipley.

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