YOU can celebrate Easter with a lamb roast and chocolate eggs - or you can go on a fun filled mystery tour following clues as you hunt for Easter goodies.

To the credit of Penarth, the town and its business circle did it differently for Easter, drumming up business for all the famous independent shops while celebrating one of the UK’s biggest holidays.

Penarth Business Group came up with the Easter Bunny Shop Hop.

A total of 25 independent businesses took part, with businesses split into three trails.

Each business had a clue in their window and participants had a map and had to collect letters and insert them in the map to make a word, then, once the word was made, they went to Umpa Lumpa Sweet Shop to collect their chocolate Easter prize.

The age bracket target for the game was six to 10 years, but what it did allow for was the family of those kids to walk round the town going to shops they might not have stepped in before, helping traders.

John Davies, chair of Penarth Business Group explained: “The idea was to get footfall in the town, with the kids coming in and they would have been taken by a member of family and it was that adult family member that the shop could engage with and help drum up more business.”

Businesses said they had an uptake in footfall in their shops, with almost 200 people taking part.

Town favourites such as Brød, Bar 44 and Griff’s Deli all took part.

Penarth Times:

Kids on the Penarth Easter Bunny Shop Hop

Mr Davies said the enthusiasm for the event was great.

“What was really nice as well was that some businesses took the initiative even further by putting on mini easter hunts for the clues within their shops,” said Mr Davies.

There are plans to recreate the shop hop next year, with Mr Davies reserving special thanks for the success of the maiden event to Willmore’s 1938, The Crêpe Escape, and Umpa Lumpa Sweet Shop.

“It’s a simple idea, easy to deliver and returns are good,” said Mr Davies. “It’s good to bring people back into the town centre and keep it vibrant.”

All the businesses involved in Penarth’s Easter Bunny Shop Hop

Willmore’s 1938, Foxy’s Deli, Glass by Design, Penarth Music Centre, The Hair Business, Beauty Box, Wax & Glo, Griff’s Deli, Penarth Pet Shop, The Crêpe Escape, Anne Morgan, Brød, Rowley’s the Jeweller, Artisans' Corner, Nourish, Griffin Books, Zero Penarth, Polka Dot Door, Umpa Lumpa Sweet Shop, ener-chi, A B Snell & Son, The Queen B, Lou’s Clothing, Bar 44 and The Bear’s Head