Record store saved from closure by loyal customer

Mick Bishop has been a customer at Market Hall Records since it opened

A record store which has been open for more than 30 years has been saved from closure after one of its customers took over the business.

Market Hall Records in The Shambles, Worcester, was set to close after its current owner Nick Banks decided to retire after three decades.

It has been taken over by former construction worker Mick Bishop, who has been visiting the vinyl specialist since it first opened and has a "few thousand" records in his house.

"The sound of vinyl I think is warmer and more detailed, it's as the band has laid it down, not somebody's else interpretation of how it should sound, as in the digital format," he said.

The store contains thousands of CDs and Vinyl LPs

The record store contains CDs and LPs from as far back as the 1950s, from a variety of genres including heavy rock, jazz, folk and blues.

Mr Bishop said running the store was much better than "working in the factory and putting caps onto toothpaste tubes."

He said he had discussed taking over the business with Mr Banks over the last year, who wanted him to have the store as he "loved it for music and not just money."

"I've always worked in construction engineering but I've always done record fairs and I've loved collecting records since I was a kid," he said.

"I'll keep it going in the manner that it's been run. I believe that's what the former owner would have liked as well."