THE strictest adherents of the Fourth Commandment insist that working on the Lord's day of rest undermines key values of traditional Scottish island life.

However, there have been gradual changes in the way the Sabbath is observed on Harris and the Isle of Lewis where there has also been the introduction of seven-day ferries and flights while a number of pubs and a couple of shops are now open on the island on Sunday.

Gallery: Photography competition takes a walk on the wild side with exhibition

Many islanders who are not churchgoers nor particularly religious back Sunday observance where shops, public services and facilities are closed.

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Although amid fierce protests, the first Sabbath-busting ferry to Lewis came seven years ago.

It has proved so popular that there will be two services on a Sunday for seven months next year.

An inter-island ferry between Harris and Berneray operates on Sundays after being introduced in 2006.

Gallery: Photography competition takes a walk on the wild side with exhibition

Sunday flights to and from Stornoway have operated since 2002.

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However, supermarkets in Stornoway remain closed on Sundays.

Hotels, some restaurants and pubs and a filling station are open.

Pro-opening campaigners point to alcohol and food being served at the licensed café within the council-owned Lews Castle.

The Western Isles Council leased the premises to a hospitality firm, after using £19 million of public funds to renovate the building.

Campaigners also call for more Sunday services like the Stornoway Sports Centre and the golf club to operate, which is the current driving force behind Sabbath opening.

Gallery: Photography competition takes a walk on the wild side with exhibition

A businesswoman on the Isle of Lewis is also continuing to defy Sabbatarians and open her shop and said Christians have come into her premises and protested loudly about it being open, and she has also been threatened with a boycott of her business.

Leona Rawlinson, who runs Tweed Tastic in Stornoway, was sent a bible and a letter from the Lord's Day Observance Society's branch on the isle asking her to not open on Sundays.

Mark Roberts, managing director of Day One/Lord's Day Observance Society, said that "the letter was kind and showed appreciation for the new venture, but explained the reservations that others in the communities have over the Lord's day and this shop trading".