The new owners of a long-established Oxford camping store have pledged to double the workforce and invest £200,000 in the business.

Touchwood Sports at Redbridge was taken over by Sheffield-based Go Outdoors in November and the store closed to sell off old stock before a major renovation starts.

Go Outdoors operations manager Graham Nicholson said: "We want to refit and modernise the premises, so we will be carrying out the sale for four weeks before re-opening under the new name.

"The new range will be three times the size, so we are creating more floor space and we have started recruiting for additional staff."

Mr Nicholson added that the workforce will be doubled to 30 but paid tribute to existing staff who have all been retained: "The staff are the biggest asset. They have a vast amount of experience, in some cases stretching back 20 years."

Go Outdoors is a traditional outdoor goods retailer with five stores, but is undergoing an expansion programme and is also opening a new outlet in Cheadle, near Manchester.

Mr Nicholson said he hoped the store would be able to stay open during the renovation but may have to shut for a few days during major building work.

Touchwood Sports was founded in the early 1960s by George Clare, selling camping equipment from a bungalow called Touchwood at Harwell. He went into partnership with his late wife, Christine, sons Peter and the late Kevin Clare, and daughter, Julie Sutton.

The first shop was opened in Abingdon. Later, the company opened shops at Redbridge and St Aldates, in Oxford.

The city centre outlet closed last August and the company was split up and sold.

The Abingdon branch was bought by former Touchwood director, Michael Samways, 52, who worked for the company for 37 years. He has renamed it Abingdon Sports.