A family who sold their own home to buy a farm shop now plan to tear it down and create a new and improved store and cafe.

Having leased the site since 2015, the Cock family purchased Delf Farm Shop in Sandwich three years ago after the previous owners decided to sell up.

Husband and wife duo Simon and Alison took the plunge by selling their house in Sandwich to buy the business, and are confident the risk paid off.

“I think with things like this, you've got to put your all in,” Simon said.

“It put us on the spot at the time, because we already ploughed a lot of money into the business and we thought the only way to buy it would be to sell the house – it was difficult, I must admit.

“We went into rented accommodation and took the risk and it paid off.

“We now live in a bungalow on-site, which we built.”

Now, the family wants to replace the current farm shop in Deal Road, which they say is “falling apart”.

They will demolish the existing building and convert a barn on-site into the new shop and cafe. A kitchen and toilets will be added.

They also want to incorporate a garden centre canopy to protect the plants they sell from the wind.

The planning application has been submitted to Dover District Council and awaits decision. Three letters of support have been added to the council’s planning portal.

“We do struggle because everyone goes to supermarkets and they forget about us little shops,” Simon said.

“But we have some people who come in every day to buy something.

“It's hard work, I must admit. But it's got to the point where we've got to do something with the shop – it's falling down.

“The last food and hygiene inspector said we had some problems with the building and water coming in.

“It’s a shed technically so we need to do something about it, and there’s only so many times that you can repair it.”

Simon also owns a windscreen business which his son, Thomas, now runs. He is also a contractor for the neighbouring farm CJ Bean and Sons.

The 46-year-old said: “Covid came along and I had the opportunity to go and work for my neighbour, CJ Bean and Sons, as a contractor.

“I've always been into farming anyway, so I'm a full-time contractor for them, and Alison and our daughter Katie run the shop.

“The farm shop had been run right into the ground so we took it on as a new challenge to try and turn it all around.”

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Simon added: “It’s the wife’s dream to have a cafe.

“We have a caravan and motorhome club site here too and they all say to us, ‘it’s a shame you haven't got somewhere to have a cup of tea and a bit of breakfast’, so we've decided that the barn that's already there can possibly be converted so that's what we're doing.

“Alison is well known for her cakes and her baking and everything anyway, so she'd be in her element.

“Once she's got a kitchen in there and she can do all that sort of thing that she wants to do, and then my daughter will carry on running the shop.”