AFTER 19 years of only having Christmas Day off, Dougie Gulliver is moving on to pastures new.

He has enjoyed his time running Brighstone Newsagents but is handing over the reins when his lease expires on Tueday, March 31.

Dougie, 45, said: "I've enjoyed it and will miss the villagers. There are some quirky people who come in this shop.

"They are lovely and some even bring me cake, I had a lemon drizzle brought in for me this week.

"I'm escaping back to Cowes, where I came from, and I'm looking for a job where I can have more than one day off a year.

"I was young when I started here and I shall miss it, it's nice round here."

The premises used to be a pub, the Five Bells, until it was changed into a shop in 1920.

New team Claire and Trevor Corsham will be taking over and have applied for planning permission to turn the business into a newsagents and tearoom.