'Dream come true' as bookshop opens in old bank

Bizy Lizy bookshop replaced the old Barclays Bank in Heanor Market Place and opened on 31 August

An independent bookshop has opened inside a former Derbyshire bank branch, in a moment described as "surreal" by its owner.

Bizy Lizy opened in Heanor Market Place's former Barclays bank on Saturday.

Owner of the new shop, Elizabeth Barrow, 54, said it has been a "lifelong dream" to open a bookshop.

Ms Barrow, who grew up in Heanor, said opening the store was a "pleasant surprise" to some of the town's residents and she is now on a mission "to get everyone reading".

Elizabeth Barrow said opening a bookshop has been a dream since her childhood

"It’s a bit surreal to now have a bookshop, the dream goes back to childhood and I’ve always been a bookworm", said Ms Barrow.

"The shop came into my possession on 2 August and I have been working non stop until it opened on Saturday."

She added that her mum tried to buy her a bookshop in the 90s, but Ms Barrow said "it was the wrong time" to make her dream come true.

"It was at my mum's funeral where I had a lightbulb moment and decided to buy a box of books and to sell them, which is how the business has grown from there to now."

How the inside of the new bookshop looks

Ms Barrow said the opening, which was attended by Heanor town mayor, Paul Jones, was a success.

"It was quite amazing and quite overwhelming", said Ms Barrow.

"The amount of love and comments made about the shop opening have been amazing. A lot of people had a pleasant surprise that a bookshop was opening in Heanor."

“I feel books are so special and they can give you so much pleasure by taking you to worlds you never knew existed.

“I want to build on what I've got now by looking for authors to sell their books in here and they can even rent some space to do reading and signing sessions."