THE village hall, the first school, the pub and the shop are the cornerstones of a thriving and sustainable local community.

Take just one of them away and the well-being of a neighbourhood is undermined.

It is imperative, therefore, that every possible support is given to efforts to retain a shop in Slaley.

We, along with hundreds of villagers, send our very best wishes to Roy and Margaret Ward, who have run the shop for five decades.

When it comes to customer service and reliability, few shop owners can match them, and their impending retirement is richly deserved.

It is to their great credit that, above all else, they want to see a shop of some sorts remain in the village.

But it is a fact of life that such shops are not as profitable as they used to be, and it comes as no surprise that no one has stepped forward to take over from the Wards on a commercial basis.

It appears that the only option for the people of Slaley to retain their shop is to create some sort of community-led enterprise. We wish them every success.