WANTAGE'S former Oxfam shop is set to be transformed into a coffee shop selling local artisan bread and handmade gifts.

Pub landlord Nick Bassett, who currently runs the Port Mahon in Oxford, and his wife Imogen have applied for planning permission to install an espresso machine and sell cakes and pastries at the former charity shop in Market Place.

The couple, who moved to Highclere Gardens, Wantage two years ago with their daughters, have said their main suppliers will include Wantage's own Marco Polo bakery.

The Bassetts hope to offer a range of cold snacks, soups and sausage rolls and plan to keep a portion of the floorspace solely for gifts and crafts from local suppliers.

Mr Bassett, 40, who plans to give up his lease on the Port Mahon next year, said: "I want it to be the sort of place I'd like to go to.

"We like Wantage, it's a lovely town, and that building wants something really Wantagey in it.

"I want to be involved with the community: I want old grannies coming in to ask how the family are doing."

In a planning application lodged with Vale of White Horse District Council at the end of March the couple said: "We will welcome customers from all walks of life and will have a very simple and minimal approach to decor.

"The focus will be on the sale of freshly baked goods such as loaves of bread and pastries as well as offering an unusual mix of antique kitchenalia and curiosities."

The proposal comes nearly two years after the Oxfam shop, which had been at 30 Market Place for more than 30 years, was forced out in July 2015.

The owners of the building, Mr P Newton and Mrs S Hart, also asked M&A Electricals next door to leave, in order to convert the upper stories of the Grade II-listed 18th century building into eight flats.

Oxfam, unable to find another unit in Wantage with sufficient storage space, left the town.

M&A owners Peter and Gill Hall meanwhile, accepted space at another of the landlords' units, 5-7 Mill Street, but were forced to leave that in March 2016 after a building inspector declared that building was structurally unsound.

The shop moved back to its original home in Market Place and the couple are now hoping the repairs on 5-7 Mill Street will be finished in July and they will have a chance to finally settle down permanently.

In the meantime, they welcomed the arrival of a new business to fill the empty Oxfam unit.

Shop manager Joyce Robson said: "We're just pleased that something is opening – it will bring more people to this end of town and we wish them luck."

Mr Bassett said he hoped the shop would open in June, so long as planning permission was granted.