A?MAJOR community project in West Devon has received a vital shot-in-the-arm that will help create a unique underground facility.

After nine years of tireless fundraising and hard work, Exbourne and Jacobstowe Community Association has received a £90,000 grant to open a community shop and café.

The grant, from the Big Lottery Fund's Local Food programme, was heralded as 'the last piece of the jigsaw' by Keri Quertier, publicity officer for the project.

The programme distributes grants to a variety of food-related projects that will help make locally grown food accessible to communities.

The money will be spent to build the unique underground shop and café in Exbourne.?It will sell grocery goods from further afield as well as locally sourced food.

The shop, which will be called the Burrow, will also provide villagers with post office services, a book exchange, internet access and a prescription collection point.

The café will use local seasonal produce where available to provide sandwiches, soups, and light snacks. Once open, it is hoped that a breakfast club for students at Okehampton College can also be established.

The funding received from the Local Food programme is in addition to grants from Devon County Council, the greater Dartmoor LEAF project, the Trusthouse Foundation, the Tudor Trust and other foundations.

Exbourne and Jacobstowe Community Association has also amassed almost £50,000 for the project through various fundraising events including quizzes, sales and community markets. This hard work combined with the grants has managed to raise the £320,000 necessary to get the project up and running.

The community shop will replace the one currently run from Exbourne Village Hall by volunteers every Monday, Wednesday afternoons and Friday.

At the hall, many volunteer hours are spent putting up and taking down displays.?Storing the goods sold is also a problem. The new premises will give the shop a permanent and sustainable base, erasing all these problems.

Keri was excited by the opportunities the shop and café will provide for the community: 'The shop will focus on selling produce sourced from within ten miles of the village, together with a wider range of grocery items.

'It will employ local people and engage local volunteers to sell the local produce, and the café area will be used for social functions in the evenings.'

The build will have a low impact on the environment, with energy-efficient systems, heat conservation systems and an on-site bore-hole part of the shop's design, which will be carried out by a local building firm.