The shop is the only one within five miles of Glenfarg

Grant Smith, the current owner of the shop in Glenfarg, Perthshire, recently announced he was giving up the business after nine years.

The move would leave Glenfarg residents facing a 10-mile round trip to buy a pint of milk and loaf of bread in either Milnathort or Bridge of Earn.

Villagers said they hoped to take over the shop in a bid to keep it open.

Glenfarg Community Council, which has backed the proposals for a community-owned shop as the most viable option for the business to remain open, will hold a public meeting in the village hall on Friday 6 June.

Mr Smith has agreed to address the meeting, which will also be attended by a speaker from Gartmore, the Stirlingshire village which has had a community-owned and run shop since 1998.

Colin Campbell, chairman of Glenfarg Community Council, said: "Mr Smith has deliberately not put a date on when he intends to cease trading because, if a community-owned shop is to be set up, he would like to make an orderly transition to it if this is at all possible."