'French village welcomes Britons back with welcome.'

Shopkeepers, restaurateurs and mayors explain why they desperately need relaxed rules for secondary tenant owners - and the return of their customers - as soon as possible.

Sitting in his cramped office in the picturesque village of Verteillac in the Dordogne, Bruno Merlot is smiling.

Behind him is a box of tea bags with a British flag and the words 'Keep calm and carry on. "Keep it to yourself. The percentage of British idiots is about one in ten. Here's a comparison: nine out of ten French people are idiots. Now that there are fewer of you, I'm sad. These are the customers I really appreciate," he says.

The 56-year-old Frenchman owns Merlot and Sons, a convenience store that's outside''Colman, an impressive range of kettles and some powerful double-decker Stoves ovens, which Merlo claims are a hit with Brits. His family has owned the store for four generations, each one making it bigger, but now he worries about its future. "We've lost British customers significantly and that's sad," he laments. "Numbers are down, that's clear. "

Besides the "original sin" of Brexit, he blames the "90-day rule". From 2021, UK citizens, as well as other non-EU citizens, are not allowed to stay in the Schengen area for more than 90 days out of every 180 unless they have a visa or residence permit. The days are counted backwards from the date of entry, with 180 days counting as a continuous period.

"There are more Belgians, but they buy less. The Dutch take everything with them. They're brutal in business. I like the British mentality. A few customers came in to say goodbye. The biggest fear is that they will all leave," says Merlo.

But the encouraging news that secondary home owners from the UK could soon be exempt from the restrictions gave him reason to hope: an amendment to that effect was passed by the French Senate this month, but must now be approved by deputies in the National Assembly next month.

Martin Berthe, the senator who organized the change, said the British should''to have a "special" status in light of the "unique ties that unite our two countries and the importance of this community to the French economy. "

Merlot agrees: 'They should be able to come and go as they please. It's a shame to restrict them." Trevor Ledgett runs a real estate agency for British buyers

He's not the only one who would like to see an exemption from the rule. Fifteen minutes' drive from the aristocratic 17th-century castle that was home to Marie Antoinette, Trevor Ledgett overlooks the village of Rochebosur-et-Argentin. He started his first real estate agency in the village more than 25 years ago. Today, he and company director Joanna Ledgett own one of the largest chains in France, especially for British''buyers, with 100 employees and headquarters in Rochebosur-et.