STAFF at Marlow's Oak Tree Road convenience store are celebrating a victory this week, after they won the right to reopen the shop's vital post office counter.

Employees and customers recently saved the shop from closing by teaming up and buying it from Balfour News, and reopened it with the new name Charity on February 25 after more than a month of closure.

But the post office remained closed due to the red tape involved in opening a branch under new owners. Business plans needed approval and a new sub postmaster was needed.

In January, the team was dealt a blow when they heard that several bidders wanted to run the post office branch, and could have moved it away from Oak Tree Road if they were successful.

But on Wednesday, they heard they had won the bid, and can reopen the branch on April 3.

Maria Vickers, 61, from Barnhill Close, added: "We have really missed the post office. We have only got the one in the High Street and I didn't know if they would manage to take it over."

Co-owner of the shop Richard Carlin, whose wife Susan works there, said: "We are absolutely delighted. It is bringing things back to community ownership rather than being owned by a big faceless company way over our heads."

The former manager of the post office, Jackie Bannister, was promoted to sub-postmistress. Mr Carlin said that the previous sub-postmaster was based in Scotland and ran a group of branches, and it was better for Mrs Bannister to run her local branch.

He said: "She has worked here for the best part of 12 years. Everybody in the community knows her."

He added that the post office was a crucial service, saying: "We have a lot of elderly people in this area and for those people to go into town is very difficult for them.

"The people here need a post office and I think the Post Office themselves understood that. The wait could have been up to three months but they did it in two."

Mr Carlin's wife Susan said that things are progressing well in the new shop, and now that the staff all part-own the shop, the atmosphere is "totally different".

She said: "It has been a real slog and there have been a lot of sleepless nights, and a lot of jumping through hoops to get things like this done. But it is worth it."

She added: "Now we have got the authority to deliver what people want, not what the great big bureaucrats tell us. We have control over stock and prices."

Phil Crowe, 38, is the shop manager and also part owns the new venture. He said: "If people want different brands we will get them, because after all we are a community store.

"We need the customers to support us and make it a success."