A VILLAGE pub has opened its own shop after the community’s only store closed.

Villagers in Stanton Harcourt lost their local store just before Christmas after the owner retired and could not find anyone to take over the business.

But on Wednesday, a replacement shop opened inside the Harcourt Arms pub in Main Road under the guidance of landlords Derek and Jo Wilby.

Mr Wilby, who has owned the pub for five years, said: “The village shop was closing and the owner had been trying to sell it for a couple of years without success.

“She said it would close by the end of the year, and there was a steering committee looking at turning it into a community shop, but nothing was happening fast.”

The 45-year-old said local response to the new enterprise had been good, and added: “Everyone is very keen on it. We have had lots of emails saying it’s nice to have the village shop here.”

The shop stocks dairy and tinned items, cleaning products and household essentials.

A member of staff from the old village shop is running it, along with three other staff.

From March, a mobile Post Office will be at the shop three mornings a week.

Mr Wilby said: “Some of the elderly people in the village rely on the postal service as they can’t get into Witney or find it a little bit difficult, so it will be nice for them as well.

“One business is often unsustainable in this current climate so people are starting to merge and make one business work properly.

“I imagine there will be a knock-on effect. People will go to the shop and visit the pub as well.

“Hopefully, the shop will hold its own as much as the pub does.”

Liz Strange, 61, who has lived in nearby Sutton for 25 years, said: “Now you can turn left for the shop and right for the pub.

“The village has been so desperate that the shop didn’t go, and we are so pleased the pub has taken it over.”

The shop is open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.