CONSTRUCTION on a brand new purpose built community shop and post office for Exbourne and Jacobstowe could mean trading begins as early as the autumn.

A £10,000 loan from West Devon Borough Council means Exbourne and Jacobstowe Community Association Limited (EJCAL) has now secured the £318,000 funding it needs to build 'The Burrow'.

The tender process has already begun, and once a contractor is chosen, it is hoped construction could start in the spring.

The community shop, cafe and post office is currently held in the village hall two days a week and was established after the previous village shop and post office closed in December 2001, meaning villagers had to make a round trip of ten miles to reach the nearest shop.

The practical issues with running the shop from the village hall — including storage problems and the need to clear the stock away every day — means the shop now needs a dedicated building.

The new shop will sell a large amount of local produce, including bread, cakes, pies, meat, dairy products, fruit and vegetables, preserves and drinks.

Other services in the village — including Dunn's dairy and two mobile fishmonger vans — will be used as major suppliers, providing an opportunity to increase their business significantly.

The shop will also offer off license sales, stationary, newspapers and magazines and a full Post Office service, as well as a café serving hot and cold drinks and light snacks.

The new building will also serve as a hub for the community, with a community information point, local notice board, a secure prescription collection point, book exchange, internet access and IT support.

Outside opening hours, the café area will be available for local groups to hire.

Shop manager Bella Snook said the snow before Christmas was just one occasion that proved the value of having a village shop.

'During the snow we had around Christmas, the shop really became the hub of the village,' said Bella.

'We kept the shop open longer, made local deliveries, and were able to keep our stocks up thanks to our local suppliers.

'We had a lot of new customers through the door who were amazed at what we had in stock, and our turnover increased by 50 per cent.

'It wasn't just about drumming up extra business though, as our volunteers went round the village to call on elderly people in their houses making sure they were warm enough and were being cared for.

'The snow was by no means ideal, but it did prove that having a local shop really can provide a centre for a community.'

The shop will be located opposite the Red Lion Inn and will be partially underground, due to the lack of a suitable site in the village.

Planning permission was updated in 2009, when no letters of objection were received.

Eleven objections were registered when the plans for the shop were originally granted planning permission in 2006.

The borough council previously agreed a £5,000 community project grant to the project in October 2008, and EJCAL has also received significant grants from Devon County Council, the Greater Dartmoor Local Enterprise Action Fund, the Trusthouse charitable Foundation, and the Tudor Trust.

Local fundraising has resulted in a further £44,000 being raised towards the project, and it is estimated volunteers have given in excess of 13,000 hours of work to the project so far.