Leeds shop owner starts free 'perfume bank' for the poor

A Leeds shop owner is offering free bottles of perfume to those who cannot afford to buy scent.

Ilyas Salim, who runs the Scent Salim perfume boutique in Harehills, came up with the idea after realising that many people on low incomes struggled to afford luxuries such as aftershave and cologne.

From October until Christmas, customers who visit the shop on Harehills Lane can take away a bottle of scent from a selected range without paying for it.

"We thought about it after a few customers wanted to smell nice but didn’t have spare money to buy perfume, so we decided to do this for the long term," said Ilyas, whose shop stocks rare scents from around the world.