MIKE Barrett is determined his village will make the cut as the recession begins to bite.

Mike, who runs Mike’s New Forest Butchers, has signed up for the Daily Echo Buy Local, Shop Local campaign – and a whole host of independent retailers in West Wellow have followed suit.

The owners of Lower Common Road Stores, Country Consumables, Hair Review and Pharmacy Direct have all joined Mike in supporting our call to back traders in their hour of need.

He said: “There is a lot of work to be done to come through this difficult time. But there is a real community spirit here and it is unusual to see so many shops in one village.

“We’re happy to back the campaign and support anything that helps independent companies.”

Mike sells free range, regionally- sourced meat from his traditional, family-run shop in Lower Common Road.

And he is urging villagers to think local before driving to giant supermarket chains.

“People will still go to the big supermarkets, but we need to encourage them as much as possible to buy what they can in the village,” he said.

“Here, we really enjoy our job and hopefully that shows in the service.”

Mike Simpson from Country Consumables added: “If residents and shoppers don’t support the shops here, they will disappear – that’s the trouble.

“Some villages have no shops at all. If people want us to stay