A shop and post office bought by villagers opened for business again this morning, writes Ian Townsend.

Villagers at Ickford, near Thame, faced entering the 21st century without either shop or post office when the previous owners announced it would be closed.

The campaign inside the village raised £60,000 from residents; Aylesbury Vale District Council granted £20,000 and the rest of the £145,000 needed came from loans and grants.

Martin Armitstead, who headed the campaign to save the shop, said: "It's a great day for the village." When people in Ickford, which has a population of 850, heard the shop was to close they went into action straight away.

A meeting last September started off a Village Shop Committee which looked at the options.

They decided the only way forward was to buy the shop themselves. Sarah Martin from the action group said: "We felt that the loss of the shop and post office to the village would change its character for ever.

"We decided to mount a campaign to raise funds and got advice from the Buckinghamshire Community Action Group and from the Village Retail Services Association.

"We had a survey which showed 99 per cent of the village wanted to see them saved. After a long struggle we have got the shop up and running. "Now it is up to the villagers to use it or lose it.

"Certainly, if it fails again, there will be no rescue package.

"We have exhausted ourselves on this one - there's no second chance," added Sarah.

Ickford people have pledged to support both shop and post office to make certain it remains a fixture for the community.

Although the shop opened for business at 8.30am today, there will be an official re-launch on March 11.

Story date: Friday 25 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.