AROUND 1,000 people in Taunton Deane and West Somerset are to be asked about their shopping and leisure habits as part of a retail study carried out for the two district councils.

The seven-and-a-half minute phone survey, which will include a question about household spending in relation to income, will be held outside normal working hours.

The data gleaned from the exercise, commissioned with Peter Brett Associates and being conducted by NEMS Market Research, will help give the councils a better understanding of how and where people like to shop and spend their free time.

It will be fed into local plans and influence future planning policy evidence in regard to future retail needs across the authorities.