In times of recession, it is important to support local people and businesses to ensure their survival and according to a poll on The Avondhu website, just 43% of people will be buying their Christmas presents locally.

The poll, which is available on www.avondhupress.wpengine.com, shows that of those that voted, 43% will shop locally, 11% will shop online, 13% will shop for presents in major cities and 33% will buy Christmas presents from all three sources.

Business associations have been campaigning to encourage people to shop locally and while everything might not be available to buy in your local town or village, people are being urged to buy what they can locally.

The Avondhu will, for the future, be running polls on the website to get people’s viewpoints on issues that matter in the area.