Local councils will clamp down on shopkeepers who are being ‘creative’ with the lockdown rules and continue to sell non-essential goods.

Shopkeepers in various towns and cities have closed their shops but some are now selling non-essential wares from a stall on the pavement while others have taken to allowing one customer at the time to enter their shop.

‘We are seeing that some shopkeepers are having trouble keeping to the rules,’ justice minister Grapperhaus said at the end of Monday’s regional safety board meeting, in which he said local authorities must act to combat rule dodging.

People who are selling coffee to go or a sandwich will be allowed to continue to do so but a so-called ‘glühwein route’ is on the verge of unacceptable, safety board chief Hubert Bruls told broadcaster NOS.

‘Local councils should ask themselves if it is a good idea to have people congregate around a spot where alcohol is consumed,’ Bruls said.

Bruls also commented on the large number of shoppers at wholesalers last week, calling the development ‘extremely unwelcome’.

‘It is not a good thing for society to have busy wholesalers while shopping centres are standing empty,’ he said.

Grapperhaus is expected to tackle that subject in the next week