AFTER an absence of more than two years, a Tynedale community is celebrating the news that it will once again have its own village shop.

Villagers in Riding Mill were hit with a double blow in 2013 when the death of shopkeeper, Bobby Turner, saw locals lose a much-loved community stalwart as well as an important village service.

But now a resident businessman has come to the rescue by offering up the ground floor of his office space, right next to Riding Mill railway station, as a base for a new venture.

“I purchased the Station House about six months ago with a plan to rent out some of the space and make it a bit of an enterprise hub because it is a little bit too big for us,” explained architect, Jason Tennet, who runs In Architecture Limited.

“But after a conversation with Pam Pryor, from the village hall trust, the idea to split the space to incorporate a shop went down very well.”

The former shop on the main road through the village, affectionately known as Bobby’s, is still home to Bobby’s brother Frank, who continued to run the shop for almost two months after his brother’s death as a service to the community.

And since it closed in November 2013, alternative potential locations for a new shop, including the parish hall, have been explored and ruled out.

Now planners have given permission for the ground floor of the Grade II listed Station House, which was converted to business use by Jason last year when he relocated his architecture practice from Consett, to be used as a shop.

“It lends itself quite well to being split,” said Jason. “We need to install a toilet downstairs and get heating and electrics sorted out, but really the internal alterations needed are quite minor.

“The history of the shop is quite nice too because apparently it started off almost 50 years ago in a kiosk on the station platform.”

Established in 1968, the kiosk was run by Mickley-born Bobby, Frank and their mother Eleanor.

Customers began asking for more and more goods, such as chewing gum, sweets and magazines, so two years later, the Turners rented a piece of land from the Wellington pub, where they built a wooden walk-in shop.

After the village Co-op closed, Bobby and Frank moved into the store premises in 1972.

The business expanded, selling groceries, fruit and veg, and was soon established as the hub of the village.

After hearing of the struggles of Riding Mill residents over the last few years, Muhammad Numan, who runs Branch End News in Stocksfield with his wife Sophie Jessup, has stepped in to launch the new business, which it is hoped will be able to open its doors within the next few months.

The initiative has won the support of Broomhaugh and Riding Parish Council and the village’s county councillor, Anne Dale.

Parish council chairman, Coun. Andy Dunhill, said: “It’s great news that the village will once again have a shop.

“The parish council helped the village hall trust explore various options but none was considered workable.

“Shortly before Christmas, Jason Tennet who recently bought the former Station House for his architectural practice, In Architecture Limited, contacted me to ask if the ground floor of his new property would be of interest for the shop.

“We all hope that matters will be concluded soon as many of the older people in the village have found it difficult since Bobby’s shop closed.”