Nearly 1,000 people signed a petition to save the post office during a hard-fought campaign and it was a bitter blow to villagers when they heard they had lost.

But now Alex Christou and his wife Sharon, who have run the post office and stores for nearly four years, are determined to fight for the future of the shop.

"This is a very sad day, particularly for Barbara Gray who has been here for 11 years," said Mr Christou this week. "We are being forced to make her redundant and are very upset to lose her as she has been superb."

But he is encouraged by the support from villagers for the future of the shop.

Mr and Mrs Christou are closing their store for a fortnight or so at the beginning of next month while it undergoes a complete refit and modernisation with the help of Chichester District Council and Cowdray Estate.

Meanwhile, it will be business, almost as usual, in an outbuilding at the White Horse pub just yards away.

"The landlord, Tony Hunt, has been absolutely fabulous," said Mr Christou.

"I asked him if we could put a temporary building in the car park and he came up with an even better suggestion – to use an outbuilding there.

"With the help of Tony and some of the locals, Sharon and I have cleared the building out and it is almost ready to start stocking up now."

He said the store would operate from its temporary 'Shed Shop' site for around two weeks.

"We will open up as usual at 6.30am and are proposing to close every day around 2pm.

"We won't be able to stock everything, but villagers will be able to get all their essentials including papers, milk, bread and eggs."


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