CORNWALL Farmers has confirmed that it is to close its country store at Kelly Bray next month.

The decision stems from the sale of the site to Smallridge Brothers of Barnstaple, who bought part of the Cornwall Farmers' machinery business when it was sold last year.

Cornwall Farmers chief executive Simon Birch said: 'When we sold our machinery business last year, part of which was located at Kelly Bray, Smallridge Brothers were granted an option to buy the whole site if they felt they needed more space for the machinery operation.

'They have now decided to exercise that option and a consequence of that will be the closure of our country store.

'We are consulting with the nine staff affected and hope to redeploy as many as possible to nearby stores.'

Cornwall Farmers' 13 other stores across Cornwall and Devon are unaffected by the announcement. Nearest stores to the Kelly Bray branch are Launceston, Liskeard and Tavistock. The company also has a direct sales force that will continue to serve agricultural customers in the area.