A HEREFORDSHIRE shop has temporarily closed.

The Spar in Bargates, Leominster, has shut its doors for the time being, with the shop now only opening between the hours of 10am and 4pm so that parcel collection services can be carried out.

New owner Zac Zachariou announced the closure via the shops official Facebook page, revealing that the Spar would be back up and running once the process of fully acquiring the store is complete.

The shop has reportedly been experiencing difficulties for a number of months, with manager Sarah Branford saying in January that mismanagement on the part of the previous owners led to the store having to operate under lacklustre conditions. She said that shelves had been left empty due to a lack of sufficient stock deliveries, with the overall state of the Spar allegedly frustrating customers and leading to abuse being directed at the staff.

At the time Ms Banford said that teamwork and perseverance had allowed the Spar team to navigate through an intensely challenging period for the shop.

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“We apologize for this inconvenience, but it's clear that the current business structure is not working,” said Mr Zachariou.

“I, Zac, have decided to purchase the Spar and restore it to its former glory, with a fully stocked store and many new additions.

“We look forward to your support in bringing new life to our store once we reopen.

“Thank you for your understanding and patience, i'm very excited to finally end this awful run of bad luck this store has had, once and for all.”