A Co-op convenience store in Tavistock which shut after a serious fire in the summer is due to reopen in time for Christmas.

The ‘small’ Co-op in Tavistock’s Market Street will reopen on Friday, December 5 following a complete refit which is underway.

Store manager Barbara Worth said the store’s 17 members of staff were looking forward to getting back to the Market Street store and seeing customers again.

They have been variously working at other local Co-ops, including the Brook Street store in Tavistock and Yelverton, while ‘their’ store has been closed.

Barbara said: “We can’t wait to get back to the store. We’re having a completer refit, everything is brand new, everything is going to be replaced and we’re having the office behind the counters rather than out the back.

“We’re mothballing the top floor off, the building is on two floors, and everything is going to be on one floor. It will be all sparkly and new, so there is some light at the end of the tunnel after the inconvenience for all of us.”

The store will be open from 7am on Friday, December 5, to be followed by an official ribbon cutting ceremony at 10am. Fittingly, this is the date of Dickensian Evening in town.

The fire broke out in the Co-op convenience shop on the evening of Tuesday, June 10 causing extensive damage.

Staff called the fire brigade after finding a fire in the back of the store.

Firefighters took two hours to bring the well-developed blaze under control, with observers seeing billowing clouds of thick black smoke.

The store was then closed to investigate the fire, which was found to have been caused by an electrical fault, and then to remove all the equipment before the refit.

During the closure, the Brook Street store extended its opening hours to compensate for the Market Street store’s closure.

The complete refit of the Market Street store began on October 27 and will continue throughout this month.