A GRANDFATHER was reduced to tears when his family corner shop was forced to close after 40 years.

The Singh family, who ran the Your Local Top Up store in Abingdon Road, Oxford, formerly JK’s Newsagent, claim they were put out of business by the opening of a new Tesco Express last year.

Owner Chuhar Singh, 65 – who bought the shop 18 years ago after running it for 15 years – spent more than £20,000 of his savings refurbishing it in an effort to compete with Tesco.

His son Kulwant Singh, the shop’s manager, said his father had been left heartbroken.

Mr Singh, 41, who lives in Kidlington with wife Jasbar, said: “He is sitting there crying. He didn’t want the shop to be closed.


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“Before Tesco came we never had problems. They buy things in bulk and corner shops like us don’t.

“This is what Tesco is doing to small shops now.

“There are old people who live nearby who don’t want to walk to Tesco, and they liked coming in here to talk as well.”

Mr Singh’s brother Jaswant said a few more people had come into the shop, at the corner of Abingdon Road and Whitehouse Road, after the refurbishment, but it was not enough to keep it going. He said: “We were taking money out of our own pockets – my dad put his savings in the shop.”

Tara O’Loughlin, who runs Folly Bridge Hair, two doors down from the shop in Abingdon Road, said she was “devastated” by the closure.

“I came in for my papers and milk and I had a tab so I could pay weekly.

“We’re really missing it.”

Yvonne Walker, manager of the White House pub in Abingdon Road, said: “I’d rather have them than Tesco.

“If I ran out of milk it’s a lot easier to go there than into town, besides Mr Singh has always been very nice to me.”

Mr Singh said the St Aldate’s Tesco, which is closer to his store, affected his trade when it opened four years ago, but the new Abingdon Road shop, which has a car park, had made matters worse.

The Tesco Express, on the corner of Weirs Lane and Abingdon Road, opened in February last year on the site of the former Fox and Hounds pub.

Dharamaraj Prasad, who runs the Londis store on the corner of Abingdon Road and Newton Road, said the closure of Your Local Top Up was “very sad”.

He said: “We’re all affected by Tesco, my business has definitely gone down.

“We protested against the Tesco before it opened.

“Now we don’t know who will be the next casualty.”

Tesco spokeswoman Fflur Sheppard said: “Our stores provide customers with a convenient and affordable offer, and often keep people shopping in communities.”