VILLAGERS are up in arms as the owners of the store and only Post Office for miles are set to close up shop.

The Clows Top store, which has stood for more than a century, is believed to be stopping trading at around Easter time after its owner Sarah Etheridge and her parents Randy and Helen Etheridge gave up trying to sell it as a shop after two years of trying.

At a special Bayton Parish Council meeting, which was held with people from surround parishes, including Pensax, Mamble, and Rock, on Tuesday (March 3), Mr Etheridge said business was not good enough to keep trading any longer.

"In five years we've not made a penny profit," he said. "It's cost us a fortune to run; stocking it when we couldn't afford stock, paying staff when we couldn't afford them.

"We know people round here get deliveries from Asda and Tesco and others, we see the vans dropping the shopping off, and that's why the shop will not stand up."

He added that the shop took around £4,000 a week, when it needed £6,000 to keep trading.

Concerned residents and councillors refuted the claims that they did not shop enough in the store saying that they wanted to but it was rare the items they wanted were available so they had no choice but to go elsewhere.

Sue Burrows, Bayton Parish Council clerk, said she was looking into the possibility of a community-led project to keep a shop and post office in the village, which included renting the current shop, listing it as a community asset and purchasing it, allowing it to close and building an extension on to the side of the village hall for a new shop and part-time post office, or by organising a mobile or outreach post office.

Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Councillor for Tenbury, said the nearby village of Whitbourne had opened a not-for-profit community shop a number of years ago which had been successful enough to secure business grants for them to build a purpose-built store and grow. There are also examples of these types of projects succeeding in Yarpole, Herefordshire, and Feckenham, in Redditch.

A committee will now be selected and set-up to begin researching the possibilities available for them to keep store and post office trading in Clows Top, but the community were told to be prepared for a period when there may not be any facilities open.

Those interested in volunteering for the committee, or believe they could help, should contact Sue Burrows by calling 01299 832722 or email bayton_pc08@btinternet.com.