Pets at Home in Burton has teamed up with leading charity, the National Autistic Society, to help sufferers of the condition escape the dangers of information overload.

The town store is taking part in the UK's first week-long event, where shops and services take an hour to provide autistic people with a much-needed break from excessive information when out in public.

The Burton branch in St Peters Retail Park, in Lichfield Street, is one of 340 plus Pets at Home stores in the UK that will be holding its autism hour on Sunday, October 8, an hour before the store officially opens. Pets at Home will be taking simple steps to make the store more autism friendly - from dimming the lights, turning down music and till bells and sharing information about autism with employees.

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More than one in 100 people are thought to suffer from autism problems, seeing, hearing and feeling the world in a different, often more intense way to other people.

Autistic people often find social situations difficult and struggle to filter out the sounds, smells, sights and information they experience, often leaving them overwhelmed by 'too much information' when out in public. The National Autistic Society's recent survey revealed that 64 per cent of autistic people sometimes avoid going to the shops because of their autism.

Stephen Spiers, store manager at Pets at Home in Burton, said: "This is a fantastic initiative and one we are extremely pleased to be a part of.

"Our store will be opening an hour earlier on Sunday, October 8 and we will be providing a relaxed, stress-free, autism friendly space for our customers."

The event will also be held at the store in Uttoxeter, and you can find out more here

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