Villagers packed Oxford Crown Court in support of former sub-postmaster and shopkeeper, Tony Summerfield.

Kirtlington residents watched in shock as Summerfield, who falsified his Post Office accounts to the tune of more than £420,000, was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Letters, including one from Insp David Whitaker, of Bicester police, were handed to the judge in support of Summerfield, whose Kirtlington Village Stores beat more than 1,500 other shops to win the national village shop of the year title in 1994.

Suzanne Reeve, prosecuting, told the court that Summerfield had engaged in a complicated fraud.

He switched money from Post Office funds to his own Girobank account. He then wrote cheques from his Girobank account in favour of the Post Office which he included in the following week's accounts. By that time, he had made further deposits of Post Office cash to cover the cheques. She said Summerfield's fraud came to light when Girobank told the Post Office that extremely large sums of money were being transferred between accounts.

An audit in April this year revealed that £422,423 was missing. Summerfield admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting between 1992 and 1998. Miss Reeve said the amounts had increased from £32,000 in 1993 to £170,000 in 1997.

She said he used the money to improve his business.

Alexander Cranbrook, defending, said he had numerous letters in support of his client from villagers and a 97-signature petition.

He said: "In the time he has been in the village, He has rejuvenated village activities. He started the village fete which still runs. He organised an annual village quiz. He was church warden and governor of the village school. He had a significant input into the church roof appeal. "He started a Neighbourhood Watch scheme and was in the local amateur dramatic society. Some of those activities did not exist before the arrival of Mr and Mrs Summerfield in Kirtlington."

Dr Nicholas Barnes told the court he had lived in Kirtlington for the same time as Mr Summerfield. He described the shop as the hub of the community.

He said the shop was 'extraordinarily well equipped' and a great help to the older people in the community.

Dr Barnes, a management consultant, said: "He was absolutely pivotal in the village. He had an important role in everything.

"Almost every day that I am in the village I find a pretext to go into the shop because it is such a warm experience."

Judge MaryJane Mowat, sitting with two magistrates, sentenced Summerfield to three-and-a-half years in jail for each count, to run concurrently.

She said: "We take into account the astonishing support you have received from the population of the village of Kirtlington." "It is clear in ten years you have made a big impression.

"You have turned the village shop into a centre of village life, unfortunately on Post Office money."

She said apart from the £420,000 fraud, Summerfield was a model citizen.

A 'force for good in the village' Villagers in Kirtlington leapt to the defence of their former sub-postmaster after his sentencing.

One housewife, who asked not to be named, said: "Tony was a tremendous force for good in the village. He was involved in organising the fete, he was in the pantomime and was treasurer of the playgroup. His sentence will leave a huge gap in the village community.

"You feel very sorry for his wife Gill. She remains in the shop and people are still supporting it."

Another long-time villager said: "I feel very sorry for Tony but you cannot condone what he has done. It is a human tragedy for himself, his wife and daughters. "He put a lot into the shop and made it the hub of the village and took part in such activities as the village quiz, the amateur dramatic society and the church.

"I used the shop every day and was absolutely amazed when I was told he was arrested."

One woman, of Hatch Way, said: "It was a lot of money but it sounds like a tough sentence. I think villagers will carry on shopping there." Writing in the Kirtlington Village News in August, Summerfield said: "I feel utterly ashamed and remorseful for my misdeeds. I know your support to Gill and my family has been a great comfort to them and for this I am very grateful."

In the same article, his wife Gill said: "No-one apart from Tony knows exactly what happened let alone why, apart from the fact that something very wrong has been done and things have to be put right.

"It has been a great shock to myself and my family as well as a lot of villagers, but without the love and support and prayers from our friends I would not be here now.

"Tony will get through his ordeal I know, and some good will come out of it I'm sure."

It is understood Mrs Summerfield will continue to run the shop, but a new sub-postmaster had recently been appointed.

Mrs Summerfield declined to comment.

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