ONE-of-a-kind Feckenham Village Shop has recently celebrated its fifth year in operation.

The shop, which scooped Britain’s best village shop by the Countryside Alliance just a year after opening, is a unique community-owned facility.

Designed to be a convenient meeting place and focal point for the local community, it is run by an enthusiastic and committed group of volunteers who provide a warm welcome and a friendly, personal service.

It is one of the first such community enterprises in Worcestershire.

The shop opened in 2009, some 20 years after the closure of the previous village store.

A brave group of volunteers with no previous retail experience bought, upgraded and opened a new one.

Villagers raised more than £40,000 in just seven months and more than 300 parishioners signed up as shareholders.

Speaking at a recent event to celebrate the special milestone Redditch MP karen Lumley said: "It is fantastic news for this community run enterprise. It is an amazing achievement for all concerned and something the village should be proud of and celebrate."

A spokesman from the shop said it is always looking for new volunteers, both to serve in the shop and to help with a variety of backroom tasks.

For more information, call 01527 894475 or visit feckenhamshop.co.uk.