THE residents of Pinehurst who witnessed their local shop burn down now have a temporary replacement whilst repairs are undergoing.

Shoppers still have a OneStop store, but it’s in the shape of the former library building at the top of the Circle on Pinehurst Road.

Six fire crews battled throughout the night on Thursday July 12 to extinguish the inferno, which is believed to have started in a crate behind the shop, then spread inside and caused its roof to collapse inwards.

The convenience store was open for business Monday morning with locals flocking to do their week shop.

Residents of Pinehurst have reiterated just how vital the place is to the community and how it was great to see it back up and running.

Barbara Rogers said: “It’s great to see a well-established part of this community back up and running, for many years it has served the public well and it was a great shame to see it burn to the ground before.”

Lewis Waldon said: “I have always used OneStop and it’s great to have this here again, it’s always done well as a temporary instalment.”

Danni Jo said: “This shop has been around as long as I can remember it felt as though something was missing, its good to have some normality back.”

Judy Kidd said: “I’m really glad to see that the old library isn’t just being left there with no purpose, that building has always served this community well and it’s great to see the doors open once again.”

The convenience shop was based at the old library before, as work to build the new Pinehurst stores were undergoing – this will be nothing new for residents as they have experienced shopping at this venue before.

Bernice Mack, community officer for North Swindon parish, said: “We are very pleased to have this back in the community.

“The pop-up shop closed last Friday after helping people in their time of need whilst the library was being transformed back into the shop.

“It looks brilliant and is much easier for the public.”

Reinstating the store in the same location as where it was formerly will help a lot of the customers in the community as many of the OneStop regulars had mobility issues or were elderly.

Which left them struggling to go to other supermarkets that were either too far away or not big enough for them to fit their mobility scooters.

The shop is open from 6am to 11pm Monday to Saturday and 7:30am till 10:30pm on Sunday’s.