THE Village Shop in Beckford has been named as one of the four regional finalists in the Countryside Alliance's Best Rural Retailer competition.

There were around 600 nominations nationally and almost 100 from the Midlands. Regional winners will go on to compete for the national title.

Shop owner Sally Stringer is described as "a great bringer together of people and ideas."

She buys food locally and is involved in the local Neighbourhood Watch and the parish magazine.

"Sally is what the competition is all about," said Clare Rowson, Countryside Alliance regional director.

She said: "The enthusiasm of customers towards their local retailers is phenomenal and extremely well deserved, especially in the case of our finalists, although we could have had dozens of finalists from the region because the calibre of nominees has been so high.

"Buying locally is clearly very important to many but it's the people who own and work for rural retailers who have created the biggest impression on me.

"The passion of our finalists is clear, they are the unsung heroes of rural enterprise and they are the reason we have run this competition. Choosing an overall winner is going to be incredibly difficult."

The regional winner will be announced in early December with a national winner being named in January 2006.