THE days of popping down to the village shop to buy a loaf of bread are to end soon in Appleshaw as the owners of the business say they cannot continue to provide the service in the face of supermarket competition and social changes. But the post office side of the business is to continue for the foreseeable future.

Brian and Elsie Elliott who have run the business since the 1980s say that from January they will not be restocking shelves.

"By Easter the premises will have ceased to function as a shop," said Brian.

"We can't compete with the prices or hours offered by supermarkets and on top of this the village has changed since we arrived 13 years ago.

"There are far more weekend homes and when a property is sold it is often bought by two professionals who both work away and we never see them - it is just a fact of life."

On top of this the couple, who are both in their early 60s, have children and grandchildren living in other parts of the country and they would like to spend more time with them than they can at the moment.

"It proved very difficult to organise holidays and find people to run the shop and post office.

"I am looking forward to seeing more of my family and friends," said Elsie.

Although the post office will remain for the foreseeable future the long term prospects are not bright in spite of the help rural businesses receive.

"I'm full of praise for Test Valley Borough Council because as soon as council tax came in I applied for and received 80 per cent rate relief and then out of the blue they said I could receive 100 per cent," said Brian.

"Without that help the shop would have closed seven years ago.

"But the long term future is more unpredictable as benefits will be paid directly into bank accounts and this will take away about 50 per cent of post office income - they don't pay that well at the moment."

The post office moved to its present position in the 1940s from a site around 200 yards down the road at a time when there were three or four other shops in the village.

The Elliotts believe their stay of 13 years in the premises is the longest in recent times.