A new bookshop is to open in Wantage later this summer.

The new shop will replace furniture, household goods and gift store Austins of Wantage, in Newbury Street, which is due to close on May 31.

Retiring owner Martin Austin, whose family has traded in Wantage since the turn of the century, was determined the building would continue as a retail outlet.

He is leasing the shop to Richard Baker and Sally Ann Palmer, who run a bookshop in Gerrards Cross, Buck- inghamshire.

Ms Palmer said: "We were looking to open a second shop, and the building in Wantage came on the market at exactly the right time."

She said The Wantage Bookshop would stock a range of books, including fiction, children's titles, travel and history.

Ms Palmer said they were hoping to open by the end of July.