THE highly successful and award winning Benarty Community Shop has closed meantime due to the coronavirus situation.

The shop is a very busy place every day but the authorities have asked that to slow the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) the general public are being asked to stay at home as much as possible and avoid unnecessary social contact.

The Benarty Community Forum informed the communities of Glencraig, Crosshill, Lochore and Ballingry: "It is with regret that the Forum Committee have taken the decision to close the community shop for the foreseeable future.

"We must take care of our volunteers and our customers and we believe the only way to do this is to close the shop. "We will not be accepting any donations and will stay closed until it is entirely safe to open again.

"We hope to see you all when we are open once again. Stay safe everyone".

A number of community groups are suspending their operations in the current situation including local churches.