THE season of goodwill has been in action at the former Lush shop in Cornmarket Street.

Over the festive period volunteers from charity Homes4All transformed the empty store into a cafe for homeless people in the city, providing everything from food and warm clothing to a safe place to rest.

The cafe, which will run until the end of January, was organised by Deborah Robson-Grey from the charity.

She said: “The response has been incredible. We’ve had so many people coming in to donate money or food.”

Homes4All had hoped to turn the store into a homeless shelter, but faced issues with planning permission.

It came after the shop's doorway was briefly boarded up in November, stopping homeless people from sleeping there, with the company later apologising.

The cafe is open from 7am to 10pm or later depending on volunteer availability. Ms Robson-Grey added: "Hopefully we can repeat this in other empty shops.”