NEIGHBOURS tired of trudging all the way to town for their groceries have opened their own shop.

Residents in the Burbank area of Hartlepool have formed a co-operative so that elderly people and new mothers can buy fruit and vegetables on the estate.

The Burbank Food Co-operative opened its doors yesterday and will open once a week from now on.

The idea came from residents in the community who have struggled without their own local shop for years.

Norma Morrish, who is helping to run the co-operative with Sheila Dowson, said: "We haven't had a shop in Burbank for over three years and you always see people struggling over main roads into the town centre just to pick up a bottle of milk or a loaf of bread.

"The people of the area came up with the idea for this and we just can't wait to get going."

Paul Nugent, a member of the Burbank Forum, which helped establish the co-operative, said: "It's already a big success. We've had more than 20 people saying they'll definitely be involved in it and we had people queueing up today.

"One of the nice things is they're breaking up food, so old people can buy, say, two bananas for the week which they will actually use as opposed to a large bunch. It's only open from 10am to noon every Wednesday morning but, if it's a success, we might get it to open longer. And it's all healthy food."

A range of agencies have helped the residents set up the co-operative, including Housing Hartlepool, the Safe in the Tees Valley Initiative, Hartlepool Borough Council, and Stranton Church.

Hartlepool Community Network helped establish the Burbank Forum.

Anyone who would like to help out at the co-operative can call Mr Nugent on (01429) 293033.