Hundreds of disappointed DIY enthusiasts are expected turn up at Harold Wood giant's B&Q store this Sunday only to find the doors tightly shut.

But the company has a one man solution to the problems of bubbling wallpaper and sagging shelves over Easter - in the shape of building whizz Phil Sowster.

Phil - a trade expert across the board, from carpentry to electricity, will be working from his home in Avenue Road, Harold Wood, giving telephone fix-it tips to prevent DIY disasters.

B&Q says that this is the fifth year that some 250,000 across the country are expected to visit its stores to find them closed.

The company says this is proof that there's a real demand for Easter Sunday opening.

Managing director Martin Toogood said: "Making this against the law is like saying that Hamley's toy store can't open on the weekend before Christmas."

A survey for the company says two thirds of people believe that stores like B&Q actually will be open on Easter Sunday. But Sunday trading laws ban stores more than 2,800 sq metres from opening on that day and on Christmas Day.

The company's solution is a nationwide advice line with building buffs like Phil on the other end.

Phil said: "I'm really looking forward to it. Nobody needs to be stuck with a DIY problem as we'll always find a way around it. "

In his normal in-store role, Phil has built up a relationship with a number of customers who eventually swallow their pride and admit they may have been over ambitious in attempting a DIY job.

While some problems are relatively easy to solve - wallpaper bubbles, for example, can be pricked with a needle - others, like angled shelves, mean starting again from the beginning, this time with a spirit level.

And Phil says his job can be very rewarding. "I have one customer who when he first came in for help wouldn't have changed a leaking tap washer.

"Then one day he came in about six times for help and each time I talked him through it. The last thing I heard, he was fitting his own central heating. "

Phil can be reached on 01392 429449 from 9am to 6pm on Easter Sunday.

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