Post Office reopens in farm shop

Chef Michael Barry is officially opening the new village stores

The future of a village store and post office has been safeguarded - by moving in with the local farm shop.

The 300 residents of Stockbury, near Sittingbourne, Kent, can now buy everything from a postage stamp to a sirloin steak under one roof.

It was opened with grant aid of £55,000 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) when the old shop faced closure.

"It made economic sense for them to join us," said farmer Terry Brown.

"The shop and post office were under a lot of pressure to find a new home," he said.

Mr Brown's family has run 560-acre Parsonage Farm since 1926.

'Lifeline to the elderly'

They opened their own butcher's shop in 2000, which was also able to expand because of the grant under the Rural Enterprise Scheme.

The new shop was built by local tradesman using traditional Kent weatherboarding.

"It is vital that rural communities and farmers are encouraged to diversify in this way," said Mr Brown.

Defra rural development adviser Jonathan King said: "Stockbury Village Stores provides a really valuable service to the community and a lifeline to the elderly."

The shop is being officially opened on 6 December by chef and food critic Michael Barry.