Southern Co-operative convenience store in Clevedon will soon be closed and reopen as a family-run business at the end of March.

The store in Old Street will be shut for three weeks of refurbishment from 6pm on Sunday and will reopen as a Welcome store on March 24.

The Welcome store will be run by Parth Patel and his family as a franchisee of Southern Co-op; featuring the same well-known brands and range of Co-op products. There will also be an additional service of hot food and drinks to take away.

Chief operating officer for retail at Southern Co-op, Simon Eastwood, said: “We are delighted to welcome Parth and his family to the store as they bring with them a real sense of community.

“For the local area, this will mean retaining the local post office services and our existing permanent colleagues will be transferring to the new owner.

"We'd like to thank our colleagues for their hard work behind the scenes and customers for their patience during the changeover.”

Southern Co-op was initially due to close on April 24 last year as the nation was at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

People living in the town spoke out against the decision and online and in-store petitions for the store to remain open were set up - attracting hundreds of signatures.

A spokesman for the Southern Co-op explained at the time that the decision to close their Clevedon store was made before the Covid-19 outbreak and driven by a legal and contractual obligation.

They said: “We appreciate this has been unsettling for our colleagues, customers and the local community, and have listened carefully to everyone’s feedback. It is important we are fully transparent about the change in decision.”

Taking into consideration the changes due to the pandemic, and after having further discussions regarding their legal and contractual obligations with the relevant parties involved, Southern Co-op committed to keeping the store and Post Office open for a minimum of another six months, with a view to reviewing the matter again later that year.