‘Where’s the character in a high street without independents?’ - that’s the question being posed by the owner of a store that’s been in the heart of Dorchester since 2006.

Shaun Samways has owned The Potting Shed for the past 17 years and has voiced his desire to see more independent shops in towns across Dorset.

It comes at a time where the popular gardening shop could see new ownership - with Shaun and his family facing a 40-mile round trip to work each day.

Shaun said he’d only sell the business to someone willing to run it “in the same ethos” of him and his family.

He said: “Myself, my wife, my mother-in-law and my daughter all work in the business but I had an accident back in May which damaged my shoulder and made it very difficult to do this job.

“We’ve been thinking about what we should do going forward and, given that we live in Yeovil, it brought everything into focus and we realized it’s probably time to sell the business.”

The Samways family has seen businesses come and go during their 16 years in Dorchester but Shaun says the one constant has been the resilience of independent retailers.

He said: “They seem, for the most part, to be able to weather the storm.

“If you don’t have independent businesses in a town then where’s the character? You just end up with town centres being clones of one another.

“Obviously we are big supporters of independent stores but, make no mistake, the loss of big-name brands such as Marks and Spencer has an overall impact on the town and, naturally, the success of local traders.”

With a new project lined up closer to home - still gardening, of course - Shaun said he was anxious to ‘claim back’ some time with his family but would miss his ‘fantastic’ customers.

He said: “We wanted to bring a garden shop back to the high street and we’ve had amazing support from the community.

“Everyone has been fantastic, so loyal, and without them we wouldn’t have been able to be here for as long as we have been.”