AN ENTERPRISING North Dorset woman has brought a new lease of life to her village by setting up a community shop and tearoom.

Residents in East Stour, near Shaftesbury, were devastated when their only village shop closed two years ago, leaving a post office open only two days a week and two pubs.

Now, thanks to a grant from Defra's Rural Enterprise Scheme, farmer's wife Jane Down has set up the Udder Farm Shop and tea rooms in a bid to boost community spirit.

Jane and her husband Brian first started considering opening the shop when they were looking for ways to diversify business at Manor Farm, the dairy farm they run with Brian's parents Jim and Eunice.

They spent two years looking at how to expand the business in a way that would enable them to provide good quality food and produce to villagers.

"We wanted to be able to source local food from Dorset and the surrounding counties which would benefit both farms and local people who want to see fresh and exciting food on the shelves," said Jane.

"The tea room will also provide a much-needed community meeting place for villagers, where breakfast, lunch and tea will be served throughout the day using local and own-grown produce which are all prepared on the premises."

Project officer for the Rural Development Service, Helen Barnett, said: "We were really pleased to be able to support this project as they had done so much preparatory work looking into the market and researching how other farm shops operate."

The Udder Farm Shop is open seven days a week, Monday to Saturday, 8.30am to 6pm, and Sunday between 10am and 4pm.

First published: October 23