Disappointed Denstonians have reportedly "apologised" to the former boss of their village shop after a lack of custom forced it out of business after nearly 100 years.

Denstone Stores owner Kelly Edwards says many villagers have told her they "did not support the shop enough" before its closure earlier this month.

The 23-year-old said she was "really, really sad" to have to close the College Road business, but had to wind it up before it piled up huge debts.

Denstone Stores
Denstone Stores

Ms Edwards said: "I've had a lot of people tell me they're sorry for not using the shop more and saying 'we didn't support it enough' and they're really sad now it's gone. It's been a case of 'use it or lose it'.

"We had a loyal base of regular customers, who would come in and buy the same things every day.

"But I know there were people in the village who never used the shop and our location meant we had no passing trade.

"The range of goods you could get there was expanded, but people were still not using the store for their weekly shops.

"It wasn't an easy decision and we really did try everything we possibly could to stay open. It just wasn't viable in the end.

"I'd like to say a big 'thanks' to all those who did support the shop and say I'm really sorry we couldn't keep it open."

Employing two shop assistants, Ms Edwards revamped the shop and knocked it through into the neighbouring post office when she took over just over a year ago.

She said: "It was really busy in those early days, but then it was the same customers every day and you need custom coming in from outside the village as well.

"If we were on the main road, we would have got a lot of passing trade, particularly from Alton Towers, and things would have been different in my opinion."

Denstone Stores
Denstone Stores

It is thought the shop had been around since the 1920s and was the only place villagers could buy a newspaper.

Last week, some said they were concerned for older Denstone residents for whom the shop had become a lifeline.

Ms Edwards, who lives in Uttoxeter, said: "For many of them, it would be the only time they'd leave the house in a day and they'd stay half-an-hour for a chat, which was really important.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do now, but I'm okay financially and am in no rush as I've still got a lot of work to do to wind up the business.

"I definitely want to run my own business in the future, but probably not doing the same thing again."