A VILLAGE shop in the Cotswolds is thriving once again, after the community stepped in to keep it from closing down for good.

Poulton Provisions had to shut down earlier this year when its owners, David and Deborah Fowles, had to step down for personal reasons.

Desperate not to lose their local shop, the community stepped in to open Your Village Shop, a limited company run by volunteers.

Villagers had the chance to become shareholders by paying £50 each.

However, one Standard reader wrote in anonymously to question why the new manager was not receiving a salary and whether Mr Fowles was paying any debts he may have had with local suppliers before he stopped running the store.

But Valentine, the shop’s manager and a director, said he would not dream of paying himself a salary until the shop was a success.

“This place has got to succeed before I extract money out of it for my own personal gain," he said.

"They will pay me eventually. If Poulton did not have a shop it would be less of a village.”

When asked how best the public could support the shop and keep it open well into the future, Dominic said they just needed to come in and have a look.

“If we don’t have stock you need then you can ask for it,” he said. “The idea is to get more people here and also to get people to come in and buy one or two more items each visit. I want this to be a good old fashioned village shop - the hub of the village.”

There are even plans to set up a little coffee shop and bring in more produce from local companies. Dominic said people could drop in their spare vegetables or fruit if they have grown too much.

When asked about the anonymous letter, Dominic said he thought it was quite childish.

“There should not be any villagers who don’t know what’s going on with the shop,” he said. “We have sent pamphlets to every house.”

Mr Fowles, who owns the shop building and lives in a house behind it, said he will not be walking away from any debts and will be paying his suppliers personally within six months.

“The success of the shop is in the hands of the directors, the shareholders and the customers,” he added.

Mike Wood, who helped set up the new shop, said that Mr Fowles is no longer involved with running the place in any way.

“He is a shareholder and landlord but it was my intention that he had nothing to do with it and I have written to all 74 shareholders personally so everyone knows,” he said.

He added: “I’m very keen to make the shop a success.”