PETS at Home Evesham has teamed up with leading autism charity, the National Autistic Society, to launch the UK’s first week-long event, where shops and services take 60 minutes to provide autistic people with a break from the usual information overload.

Evesham is one of 340 plus Pets at Home stores in the UK that will be holding their autism hour on Sunday October 8, at 9am.

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.

Adam Blanchard, store manager at Pets at Home Evesham said: “This is a fantastic initiative and one we are extremely pleased to be a part of."

Mark Lever, chief executive at the National Autistic Society said: “It is really encouraging to see shops and services such as Pets at Home getting involved in the National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour.

"Like anyone, people on the autism spectrum and their families want the opportunity to go to the shops. But many find the often busy, loud and unpredictable environment of public places overwhelming and avoid them altogether.

“Our Too Much Information campaign has highlighted that the smallest changes can make the biggest difference for autistic people."

To find out more, visit: autism.org.uk/get-involved/tmi/autism-hour.aspx