A CARLISLE shop has been praised by the UK Cabinet Office for the way it has adapted its business during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dawn and Adam Thompson-Howard, co-owners of Food, Glorious Food, were shocked when they were asked if they'd like to be featured on the Cabinet Office's Twitter page.

The Cabinet Office supports the work of the Prime Minister and helps to make sure government runs smoothly.

Its Twitter page has more than 400,000 followers.

"When they got in touch our first thought was should we do it, should we not," explained 43-year-old Dawn. There's only the two of us and Adam said, 'I am not doing it, my hair hasn't been cut.

"So I thought about if I was confident enough."

After self-shooting a one minute video, Dawn saw it had been posted on Thursday (May 21).

"A lot of people have been ringing up to place orders and have been joking and saying, 'can we have your autograph now', or 'you are famous now'."

The Cabinet Office tweet said: "'We’ve put some new measures in place to keep both ourselves & our customers safe'.

"Dawn Thompson-Howard explains how their independent grocery store in Carlisle has continued to trade."

In the video Dawn outlines how her shop on Crosby Street has adapted to coronavirus.

"We decided that as a small shop that we can't really have too many people in the shop at once.

"We put a barrier at the door and markers on the floor outside to remind people to stay two metres apart from us and other customers when they come into the shop.

"We've made it a lot easier for people to keep apart."

Dawn says the last few months have been tough.

"We are having to work harder to make the money. It has made getting deliveries and orders into the shop much more difficult..

"It's harder to get in contact with companies as staff are working from home, so it's hard to get hold of them if there's a problem.

"We've also had cases where deliveries have taken weeks to come. We are basically having to work twice as hard."

The independent grocery store has been offering contact-free delivery and collections to customers in Carlisle and the nearby area.

"We close at 3pm and we pack up orders and take them out ourselves," explained Dawn.

She says the delivery option has been popular with customers.

"Our initial deliveries were to people who were already customers asking for things they needed. Since then we have have a lot of new customers, some who have friends who recommended us."

Only one household at a time is permitted in the shop.

Hand sanitizer gel is also available for customers to use while in-store.