A SHOP and post office in the Ryedale village of Westow, near Malton, have been given a new lease of life thanks to an improvement grant from the Rural Development Commission.

Owner Bill Evans has fitted a double-glazed front window and installed a chiller cabinet and digital scales which conform to European regulations.

His shop is among 16 in North Yorkshire which have been awarded £55,000 by the commission. Each business receives a minimum of £3,000, matched by the applicant.

Mr Evans, 59, has run the shop for 19 years since leaving the RAF, in which he was an engineer.

He said: "The shop needed updating. The shop window was single-plated glass which did not conform to any regulations.

"We were losing a lot of heat because it was a massive area and it needed double-glazing. It will reduce our running costs."

The improvements coincide with additional opening hours, from 8am to 6pm, he said

The shop serves 112 households and outlying farms as well as passing trade. Liz Jordan, of the Rural Development Commission's Yorkshire and Humber Region, said: "We are seeing an increasing number of village shops taking advantage of this new scheme.

"Its aim is to enable rural shops to complete more favourably with the supermarkets because they do provide a valuable service as well as being a social asset in a village community."

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