Christmas advert made for £100 stars two-year-old Arthur

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ArthurImage source, Hafod Hardware
Image caption,

Two-year-old Arthur is the star of the heart-warming story

A shop owner who has made a Christmas advert starring his two-year-old son wants it to encourage people to buy local.

Hafod Hardware in Rhayader, Powys, has been making festive adverts for several years and this year's cost just £100 to produce.

The advert sees Arthur setting up the shop along with members of his family.

Tom Jones, Arthur's father, said the "underlying message" is to "shop at your small independent shops".

The video received more than 50,000 views on YouTube within two days.

Mr Jones said: "It has been crazy... we've been overwhelmed with nice emails and messages from all over the world.

"The underlying message... is these big companies like John Lewis, they do really well at Christmas.

"I understand Christmas can be a very expensive time for everyone and they need to save money where they can, but if they can afford to, just try and shop at your small independent shops and support us, it makes a big difference.

"It did cost £100 to make and most of that was the cost of the music.

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Image source, Hafod Hardware/Thomas Lewis Jones/PA Wire
Image caption,

Arthur stars in the shop's advert helping customers, carrying out handiwork and putting up decorations

"You really see him [Arthur] developing every year from the baby to the little boy he is today.

"The story this year is, Christmas isn't just for kids, [you] can all just be a kid at Christmas."

The only expense was paying a singer to record the song, which is a cover of Alphaville's 1984 hit Forever Young, performed by American singer-songwriter Andrea von Kampen.

Mr Jones said the locals "really do love it."

The store opened its doors in 1895 and Mr Jones has worked there for 10 years.

"People have been coming in this morning saying congratulations... they've been bringing in bottles of champagne for us to say well done.

"The locals are incredible, they're our bread and butter, we're very lucky to have the community we have here in Rhayader."