Community-spirited villagers are on their way to raising £45,000 to building a new village shop in a Portakabin.

Gosfield Foundation Community Interest Company (CIC), which was founded by parish clerk Jo Beavis in January and includes local trustees, has submitted a planning application to build a new village shop in the playing field car park, which is owned by the parish council.

The previous shop G and S News in Church Road, which was run by Graham and Sheila Allen for more than three decades, shut in January after the couple announced their retirement.

It has since been turned into a house after numerous attempts to sell the shop failed.

See this week's Halstead Gazette for the full story.