VHS fan bids to save 20,000 tapes from being dumped

Andy Johnson opened what is said to be the UK's last video shop in June 2018

A VHS movie buff is making a 600-mile round trip to collect 20,000 tapes before they go to landfill.

Andy Johnson, who runs what is said to be the UK's last video shop, is driving from Liverpool to Dundee on Wednesday to rescue the mammoth haul.

The vast collection was amassed by George McInnes over decades from car boot sales.

Mr Johnson, who owns VideOdyssey, said: "We're on a mission to save film."

The 42-year-old fulfilled his dream of opening a video shop in the Toxteth TV venue in 2018 and described the response since then as "phenomenal".

He even had to expand the store after being inundated with tapes from well-wishers across the country.

Earlier this year, the shop featured on a movie lovers' bucket list, compiled by Time Out Magazine, alongside Hobbiton in New Zealand and the Ghostbusters firehouse in New York.

But the Dundee donation will more than double his existing 15,000-strong collection and he is applying for funding to create a national archive.

Mr Johnson's store in Toxeth, Liverpool, is about to more than double its collection of 15,000 VHS tapes

Mr Johnson claims young people brought up in the age of live streaming are keen to experience movies on tape.

He said: "VHS is starting to have a similar comeback seen with vinyl. People want that physical connection to their favourite films, rather than the cold experience of playing something from the cloud."

Having worked as a clerk in a video shop as a teenager, Mr Johnson was inspired to open his store after a chance encounter with Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino.

He now finds himself travelling across the country on his days off to gather people's collections of old gems and save films, which never came out on a digital format, from oblivion.

During the Covid lockdowns, he even offered customers a special nostalgia pack with a player and 10 tapes.

Mr Johnson added: "It's taken over my life in a short space of time. Thankfully, I have a very understanding wife.

"As we have a three-year-old boy, and they've both travelled with me to pick up VHS hauls. But nothing like the size of this collection in Dundee.

"A lot of amazing movies were never brought out digitally and they're in danger of being lost forever."