One of Salisbury's independent businesses which temporarily closed due to the coronavirus outbreak has decided to not reopen until the end of the summer.

Vinyl Collectors and Sellers on the High Street shut at the end of last week in a bid to keep staff and customers safe.

READ MORE: Record store shuts until end of month to fight coronavirus spread

In an update on Facebook, owner Paul Smith revealed today that closing was "100% the right thing to do" and confirmed that the store will remain shut until September 30.

Until then, customers wishing to purchase records will be able to do so online.

"Next week we will be starting a massive drive to put thousands of our items of stock in our online sales channels saving the jobs of all my staff," he announced.

"Initially we will be offering free postage so [customers] will be buying records at the same price as if they would have been in the shop. All online purchases will carry the same full money back guarantee as if bought in store and are of the same high quality." 

Mr Smith’s main concern, which led him to close the store in the first place, was that stock may be infected with the virus – which can live on hard surfaces for up to seven days – due to customers flicking through the records.

However, as he explained, half of his stock is stored in a storage unit which has not been accessed in two months while the other half, most of which is in sealed plastic boxes, is kept in the shop’s stock room which is not accessible to the public.

Selling records online is now "our best asset to survive this current situation for as long as it may last and myself and all my staff are determined that once this is all over Salisbury will still have a physical record store".

He added: "We got over the hammer blow that Novichok dished on our city thanks to you our loyal customers and the help of our landlord ‘The Quantum Group’ and we have the ability to get over this latest hammer blow of Covid-19."