New owners have taken over Roberts hardware shop in Ottery St Mary - but they're promising that it'll be business as usual for the much-loved 'Aladdin's cave' retailer.

Rosalind Rapley, who had owned the business for 18 years, put it up for sale in January after deciding to retire. It was purchased by Dean Auton and Mark Whettingstell, who are now running the shop together.

Both of them are locksmiths. Dean had set up East Devon Lock and Key in Honiton, in 2019, and in November last year he was joined by Mark. 

Dean said: "We were running the shop together and doing outside work in the local community. We were looking for ways to grow our business and the opportunity of Roberts came up, and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. During the pandemic we had changed what we were selling, we started selling specialist cleaning products and hardware and we noticed that they did quite well, so the hardware store seemed a good fit to expand on that."

While it may be the end of an era for Roberts, Dean and Mark say they will be continuing its old-fashioned form of customer service, aiming to build upon it rather than change it.

Dean said: "Absolutely. We want to keep the ethos of the traditional hardware store and keep the current stock that we've got, but we're keen to hear from customers to find out  if there's something nobody else is stocking in town, and if we can we'll look to stock that as well.

"We want to be part of the community and provide a service to the community - 'if you can't get it elsewhere you can get it from Roberts' - which is what I believe has been happening for quite a number of years, and we want to carry on with that ethos."

Earlier this month a surprise presentation was held for Ros in the store, with former and current members of staff, the new owners, and town councillor Vicky Johns, who presented Ros with with a blue plaque commemorating her ownership of the 'Four Candles' shop - a reference to the classic sketch by the Two Ronnies, set in a hardware store. 

The plaque reads: 'An old-fashioned shop with old-fashioned service. An integral part of Ottery St Mary's history.  Locals tell of fond memories of days gone by.' 

Read more about the store in days gone by: The long history of Roberts in Ottery St Mary