A SHOPKEEPING family has revived a Skipton store that has been closed for more than a year.

Raj Singh, from Skipton,and his uncle Del Singh, of Ilkley, who runs the Spar shop in Cross Hills, have joined forces to re-open the Spar shop in Sackville Street, Skipton.

The doors were flung open to customers on Thursday, with the honour of cutting the ribbon given to Skipton Town Council deputy leader , Robert Heseltine.

He praised the two men for bringing life back to the store which was an important asset in the community.

"Without family run shops like this, supermarkets would rule the roost. I'm calling on the community to show their support by getting behind this venture.

"This is a remarkable example of of what is possible when people have the drive and determination to succeed. I wish them all success," he said.

Raj, who runs a licensed convenience shop in Stanningley, Leeds, said: " I'm from Skipton and love the town and wanted to give something back to the community. I'm very positive about the future.

"We wanted to open earlier than we have - at the time of the Tour de France - but things didn't work out as quickly as that.

"It has taken some time but things have snowballed in the last two weeks and we are now excited about bringing this store back to the community.

"So far we've had a very positive response from people. We have invested a considerable sum into this venture and would not have done so if we didn't believe in it"

The shop was officially opened at 1pm, but there had been a queue forming among the first customers for some time.