RESIDENTS in a village outside York said they were surprised after their village shop suddenly closed.

The General Store in Rufforth has been for sale for several months, but the shop’s closure on Friday was unexpected.

Roger Lee, a Rufforth parish councillor, said: “It will certainly cause a lot of inconvenience, especially to elderly people and people who aren’t very mobile.”

Mr Lee suspected the closure was caused by residents driving the two miles to Acomb to buy their essentials.

He said: “It has closed before today with its previous owner and opened up again. Hopefully someone will take it up again. We can only wait and see.”