CAMPAIGNERS have won their fight to get a village shop reopened.

The Best-One shop in Purton closed in March 2016, along with the post office.

The Co-op took over the lease at the on Church Street site more than a year ago but restoration of the shop stalled.

A local campaign was started by villagers to pressure the retailer to open it as soon as possible with hundreds signing a petition.

And after campaigners held talks with three Co-op chiefs, it confirmed it will resubmit plans by Christmas for a £1.3m renovation of the store.

Work could be expected to start by June 2019 with the store potentially opening by October next year.

Kirsty Davies, who has spearheaded the campaign and met the three bosses, told the Adver: “It was really positive, I was really impressed.

"They basically said that they agreed that they had taken too long to open it.

“It’s not as quick as we would have liked but I think we will be looking at getting the store open in 2019.

“It’s quite amazing how much power you can bring to bear when you have enough people.”

The campaign amassed nearly 200 signatures through online and paper petitions that were filled out by residents in the village and sent on to the company to make their voices heard.

The meeting discussed what the extra work the company will have to do to ensure the road layout next the shop is safe and the store meets disability access requirements.

The bid for the post office will have to be applied to separately once the site is ready so it will be some time before villagers are assured that it will also return.

One of the main complaints was that the retailer was failing to listen to requests from residents and councillors, but the meeting has established channels of communication to ensure the promise is kept.

“It’s one of those things for us to see what they do,” added Kirsty, because we’ve had promises before but the main thing was their willingness to listen to us.”

“We have agreed to keep in touch and they will give me updates on how things are going.”

Gareth Dexter, acquisition manager for the Co-op, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest in Purton, and we remain committed to serving the community.

"We are pleased to have had the chance to discuss our plans with local residents - getting closer to what members, customers and communities want , need and care about is at the heart of the Co-op.

“The complexity of the works required have meant that this development has taken longer than we would have liked.

“A dedicated team is working to submit viable and sustainable plans for the re-development of the building, plans which we are confident will enable us to better serve the community.

"Our ambition if for the store to operate at the heart of community life and become a local hub, a real asset locally.”