A DISUSED bus shelter has been turned into a spooky swap shop where villagers can trade books with each other.
The shelter, in South Leigh, was initially transformed during the first lockdown and has since had Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter makeovers.
Residents used it to swap books, puzzles and even vegetables, however it is now very much an unofficial library for the village.
The current version of the Station Road shelter has caught the eye and is providing frights to villagers.
Martin Spurrier, who helped decorate the shelter, said: “It all started with keeping morale up in the village as people couldn’t be out and about during lockdown.
“We have a village of 330 people with 140 houses, and the response online has been fantastic.
“People have been saying we’ve done ourselves proud and how it’s been scaring people to death.
“When we were putting it up, literally everyone – including the Ocado delivery driver – stopped to see what we were doing.
“We’ve gone all out on this one with the black and orange lighting, the rats and the spiders, and the kids absolutely love it.
“We’re really chuffed with this one, with the reaction and how people actively say they’ll bring the children down and that’s the rewarding part of it. Everyone loves it and we love doing it for them.”
After various makeovers now, most of the village knows who is behind the work however that doesn’t mean Mr Spurrier will be stopping anytime soon.
He said: “After a year, everyone has sussed out who it is doing it but for the first year, we were like Banksy and nobody knew who was doing it.
“We’ve got lots of stuff and we can do different formats so it’ll carry on when the next seasons and celebrations come round.
“We found the lockdowns actually brought people together in the village, not physically but in helping each other and doing things to help others.
“The legacy of lockdown in the village is the bus shelter, although nobody can ever recall the shelter being used – but it’s certainly found a purpose now.”
The Scottish industrialist is famous for leading the growth of the American steel industry and becoming one of the richest people in history.
He was also a philanthropist and reportedly gave away 90 per cent of his fortune to good causes.
Some of that money funded more than 2,500 libraries across the globe, of which many still exist, hence the name for the shelter.
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