One third have no village shops

21 August 2000



One third have no village shops

By FWi staff

ONE in three of Britains 13.5m rural dwellers have no access to a local shop, according to a survey by the Countryside Agency.

Agency research says the trend has cost rural communities 150m in lost trade and turned villages into little more than artificial husks, reports the Daily Mail.

Rural post offices are closing at a rate of 400 a year and increased competition from supermarkets is blamed for the loss of 4,000 shops between 1991 and 1997.

• Report calls for rural car grants, FWi, 27 July 2000
• Supermarket offers village deliveries, FWi, 14 March 2000
  
• Daily Mail 21/08/2000 page 30