A food store will ferry shoppers about ten miles to maintain their custom while a shop undergoes a £500,000 makeover.

The East of England Co-operative, in The Broadway, Silver End, shut last Saturday  for seven weeks while it is refurbished.

But in an alleged bid to ensure “local customers are not left with supplies”, the store will offer a free coach service to the East of England Co-op in Stanway, near Colchester, every Tuesday and Saturday.

A mobile shop will also be in place in Silver End from next Wednesday and will then be open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11am until 3pm.

The post office will remain open as normal, apart from between January 24 and 28.

The new-look store will re-open on February 21.