The outgoing chairman of the Oswestry Christian Bookshop has spoken of his pride at the company's 40-year anniversary on Saturday.

Don Sanders was joined by members of the bookshop's group, which is based in Lower Brook Street, for tea, coffee and cakes.

The group, including former Advertizer editor Trevor Smith and his wife Marian, reminisced with one another and Don admitted he was hoping for another 40 years.

"I've been involved on and off for 37 of the 40 years but I've been directly involved for the last few," he said.

"It's been very nice to be part of this group. It's been a support group for me in my life as a Christian and for others who use it.

"We've been very supportive to the churches in Oswestry too, as people, who don't normally go to church – come here to buy cards and other things they need.

"The fact is I'm very proud of what we're doing here.

"We provide an area for people who don't find they can go to church, so we offer them something different.

"We had our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday and as someone on the night said, we will hopefully be there for another 40 years."

The bookshop was founded by former Oswestry mayor John Field, as Don added: "He started with a tin of books in the Bailey Head."