A NATIONAL campaign to revive rural communities through business is being spearheaded by an Oxfordshire charity.

Staff at the Plunkett Foundation based in Woodstock are lending their expertise in helping communities save and restore local services such as shops and pubs for the Village SOS Active campaign.

The campaign is being showcased by a new BBC1 TV series, Village SOS, where communities receive advice and information on running their own enterprises.

Peter Couchman, chief executive of the Plunkett Foundation, said: “The closure of village shops and the boarding-up of local pubs is an all too common story for rural communities across the UK.

“An estimated 400 village shops and 700 rural pubs closed in 2010.”

Mr Couchman added that there are now 264 community-owned shops across the UK, 18 of them in Oxfordshire.

He said: “We hope to continue to inspire villages in Oxfordshire and across the country to build on this success and use the power of community-ownership to deliver long-term benefits by setting up and running anything from community cafes, shops and pubs to library services, swimming pools or healthcare services.”