A village which lost its local shop and post office is to be given the next best thing.

Residents of Langham have been given planning permission to put up a temporary building to provide the services they have lost.

Councillors at last night's Colchester Council planning meeting gave temporary permission for the steel, vandal-proof cabin to be put in the car park of the community centre in School Road, Langham, for five years.

The non-profit-making shop will be open from 7am to 7pm, 7am to noon on Saturdays and closed on Sundays.

It will be run by volunteers from the local community.

Langham parish councillor Simon Gallup, said: "I didn't realise how valuable our village shop was until it closed."

He said the new cabin would provide social contact for the elderly and help the village environment.

Published Friday, May 30, 2003

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