All-night London

While New York is known as the city that never sleeps, London has a reputation for being tucked up in bed by midnight. But the news that M&S is offering all-night openings for Christmas means 24-hour living has come one small step closer. You may not be rushing out to buy smalls or sweaters at 3am, but it's good to have the option.

Things are definitely changing says Bob Oddy, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association. 'Drivers started noticing night-time trade picking up six or seven years ago. Now the number of places opening late is phenomenal. Every time a bank shuts a club or restaurant opens. It isn't just clubbers though - more people are working nights.'

He's right to spot that night working is increasing. Some 396,000 people come into London for evening or night shifts as a regular part of their job (almost 30,000 more than the last DTI survey two years ago). So it stands to reason that restaurants and shops should keep pace with this. But where do you go to shop or eat after hours?

All-night dining

No competition here - the West End is the place for late-night diners. But there are still only a handful of choices outside the clubs. Bar Italia (22 Frith Street, W1) is a Soho institution and 24-hour opening (Mon-Sat) means it gets packed with after-hours crowds in need of strong coffee or a snack. If you want something more filling, Cafe Boheme (13 Old Compton Street, W1) serves food until 2.30am, Mon-Sat (drinks until 2.45am). Its bistro staples - duck confit, steak, salads - are popular with locals in the restaurant and pub trade. 'Many of our regulars work late and then come here for dinner,' says manager Tracy Batchelor. If you miss last orders there, 1997 (19 Wardour Street, W1) serves Chinese food and takeaways until 4am (Mon-Sun), and is usually a bit rowdier.

The only truly 24-hour restaurant near the West End is Vingt Quatre (325 Fulham Road, SW10). It only stops serving food to clean its kitchens (7am-8am) and from Thursday to Saturday it does a roaring trade serving steaks, fishcakes and comfort snacks to clubbers. But manager Dragona Simakovic says they also get trade from returning travellers. 'They've just landed at the airport and we're the only restaurant where they can get a meal.' Staff take it in turn to work nights. 'It can be tough,' says Simakovic, 'But it's social and

sometimes it feels like we've been for an evening out and got paid for it.' She says there's the occasional disorderly diner, but not as often as you'd think.

If that's the wrong end of town, try Tinseltown (44-46 St John Street, EC1), which attracts most of its trade when the Clerkenwell clubs empty and serves Italian, Indian and English dishes around the clock (Mon-Sun). Or there's the 24-hour Beigel Bake at 159 Brick Lane, E1. It first started round-the-clock opening 15 years ago and now serves 'anyone and everyone' according to co-owner Amnon Cohen. 'Policemen, clubbers and the local Bengali community all come here.' Filled bagels to take away or eat standing at a counter start at 55p.

Shopping till dawn

Night-time shopping used to be confined to garage forecourts, but now the big boys are in on the act. Tesco was the first to try it and now has nearly 50 all-night stores in the London area. Sainsbury's, Asda and Safeway followed suit and all report a very mixed group of shoppers

late at nights - including a surprising number of mums who prefer to shop in the dead of night than have a toddler in tow.

Safeway's forecourt stores at BP garages are the only ones to stay open continually - including Sundays and Christmas. You'll find everything you'd need for a late-night meal here - although top sellers last Christmas were predictably emergency buys (milk, mince pies, batteries, Red Bull).

While it's only running allnight trading at a few stores until Christmas, Marks & Spencer says it's responding to customer demand. 'We tested midnight opening in 13 stores last year and it went down so well that we're expanding,' says Michelle Paerse. The London area gets three 24-hour openers. So will they be full of drunks shopping after the Christmas party? 'There were no reports of unruly behaviour last year,' says Paerse. Given that the locations include such bastions of respectability as Cheshunt and Colney, M&S's biggest threat is probably running out of sage-and-onion stuffing.