SHOPPERS in Peebles can be forgiven for feeling a little mixed up this month as several familiar faces from a local convenience store have been helping out at a charity shop in the town.

As part of a community promise, staff from the town's Co-op have been giving up their spare time to volunteer at the British Red Cross shop.

The staff members in Peebles vowed to do more for the community as part of the Co-op’s drive to switch its focus from profit back to supporting local causes.

And the Peebles store kicked off its new era last week by donating one per cent of sales from members’ Co-op own-brand purchases to music charity Nomad Beat, Peebles Youth Action and Innerleithen Playgroup.

Every member of staff in the branch has also been helping out at the charity shop.

Speaking after his stint in the Red Cross's Old Town shop, newly-appointed assistant manager Ryan Barnes said: “Sandra, the manager of the British Red Cross shop, is a regular customer of ours and works all the hours under the sun to keep her charity shop open and organised.

"We all know what its like to work in retail, so the least we could do is offer a little bit of help.”

Some of the staff have enjoyed the volunteering so much that they have pledged to continue donating a few hours in future.

Mr Barnes added: "Unfortunately we didn’t have time to clear the basement while we were there, so myself and few others will be looking to go back next month and get that sorted for them."