I WAS pleasantly surprised by some good old-fashioned shopkeepership this week.

I was on my weekly trip to Atherton when I popped into a freezer shop to collect some yummy puddings.

I was filling my basket with gateaux, cherry cheese cakes and apple and blackberry pies when the owner, I presume, popped a packet of apple pies, the last of its kind in one freezebox, into my basket.

You can have them, he said, not knowing me from Adam, and walked off.

Taken aback I was. It's a long time since a shopkeeper was so generous. And it only takes a simple action like that to gain customer loyalty.

Three cheers for local shops and small businesses. It's a pity there's not more of them. More shoppers should support the little man in the street so we don't lose them all to the soulless, out of town and expensive malls.