A team of dedicated volunteers has stepped in to run a village shop in north Suffolk, which closed earlier this summer.

The store in Thorndon, near Eye, closed as a result of rising operational costs, despite being popular with villagers.

But under a new management team, the shop in the car park of the Black Horse pub, in The Street, has been reopened as a community trading store after landlord Darren Hayward offered the business to local people.

One of the volunteers, Geoff Karlson, said the shop, which first opened in September 2009, would be able to remain open 'for the foreseeable future' under the new arrangement.

The shop opened last week and will be selling 'the basics' – newspapers, bread, milk and cold meat – but there are plans to increase the range of goods on sale soon.

Mr Karlson added: 'With school holidays putting a bit of a dampener on trade, the shop currently opens from 7.30am to midday, Monday to Saturday, and 8.30am to midday on Sundays. The plan, once the kids are back, will be to increase the opening hours into the afternoons during the week while maintaining the half-day trading on Saturdays and Sundays.'

Thanks to Mr Hayward's help and assistance, as well as his generosity in providing fixtures and fittings free of charge, the shop is now trading 'for and on behalf of' the village of Thorndon.