A YOUNG entrepreneur who has given hope to hundreds of residents in her village is in the running for a major national award.

Christine Hope is gaining fame in the village of Longtown, Herefordshire, for her courageous decision to take on the running of the village shop, which was threatened with permanent closure when the previous owner became ill.

Now the 24-year-old, who has ambitious plans to use the grocery store as a prototype for a whole chain of shops, is in the running for the title of Shell LiveWire Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Miss Hope has already seen off tough competition to be named the Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

She now faces even tougher competition as she goes into battle against other young business people from Staffordshire, Shropshire, The Black Country and Warwickshire in the West Midlands regional final.

If successful next month, she will represent the region at the national finals, in June, where just 12 young business people will vie for a top prize of £10,000.

Rest of my life

"The basic business skills I am learning in running the shop will be with me for the rest of my life, whatever I do," said Miss Hope, who went to Fairfield High School, in Peterchurch, Herefordshire.

"However, I think I'll have the business for life - I'd only sell it for ridiculous money!"

The business venture started when Miss Hope returned to Longtown, where she was born, after travelling around Australia and New Zealand.

She could not find a job offering "career opportunities and good money", so she decided to go it alone, and spotted the village shop, which had then be closed for three months.

"I thought if I wasn't going to earn much anyway, I might as well be doing something for myself," she said.

And so Hope's of Longtown was born, in December 2001.

It sells organic and local produce, including local vegetables, and operates a Fair Trade policy.

Her slogan is 'where the qualities of a farmer's market meet the convenience of a supermarket' and she prides herself on the fact she is helping to support the local economy.

The Shell LiveWire scheme encourages young people aged 16 to 30 to start their own business.

It has helped half-a-million entrepreneurs go it alone, by providing free information, advice and support, in the past 21-years.

For more information phone 0845 757 3252 or click on: www.shell-livewire.org