Dobcross residents raise £60k to save village's only shop

Committee member Suzanne Wright said it was "vital for any thriving village to have a store and post office"

A village's residents have come together to save their only local shop by raising £60,000 to secure the lease.

The future of Dobcross Village Store and Post Office was under threat after the manager decided to retire and no-one came forward to take it over.

It has now been turned into a community co-operative to serve the village, near Oldham in Greater Manchester.

Committee member Suzanne Wright said everyone had been "pitching in" to help save the shop.

Shutting the shop would have left the residents needing to travel to the neighbouring villages of Uppermill and Delph for their shopping needs.

'Real community effort'

Ms Wright told BBC Radio Manchester if it had permanently closed, it "would have been as if the heart had been ripped out of the village centre".

"It is vital for any thriving village to have a store and post office," she said.

Ms Wright said saving the store had been a "real community effort", but was "important for a lot of people" in the village, because it provided postal and banking services while also championing local suppliers.

She said all three staff had been kept on after the manager's retirement with a team of volunteers also on hand to support by working on the tills, doing maintenance jobs and cleaning.

She added the shop would now become a community hub for local residents and the team behind the project were looking for grants to improve that offering.