A popular farm shop has been put up for sale following the current owner's decision to retire after 38 years at the helm.

Sandhurst Farm Shop, in Queen Street, Sandhurst, has been put on the market by BTF Partnership and could be yours for £495,000.

The shop comes with approximately five acres and an agricultural barn with planning potential.

Current owner Ashley Goodhew has run the business for almost 40 years and he is now keen to see somebody take over and care for the running of the shop.

Prior to buying the shop in 1981 Mr Goodhew farmed the apple orchards on the land to the rear and ran a soft fruit business locally employing many pickers.

He said: "Hopefully someone will carry on running the shop as it would be nice to see it continue, but the site also has a number of other possibilities.

"We will of course miss our regular customers, some of whom don’t live locally but always stop by.

"There is quite a bit of passing trade and we sell as much local produce as possible which all helps to reduce food miles and to support local farms.”

The shop also sells cut flowers, plants, juices, cakes and in the autumn local hop bines which are grown in the village.

Located on the A268, the shop is busy with passing trade as well as regular customers from nearby villages such as Cranbrook.

The shop measures 890ft² includes a covered veranda and display area, main shop and display area, farm office, stockrooms and covered storage areas.

The agricultural barn is set well back from the road and is of timber portal frame construction clad in timber weatherboarding and extends to 742ft².

This sits entirely in its own site and has potential for conversion for a number of uses subject to the necessary planning consents.

Surrounding the barn is the agricultural land that is currently all laid to grass and cut for silage by a local farmer.

The Grade III north facing land consists of the Cranbrook and Curtisden soil series comprising predominantly silty soils over Wealden clays.

The parcel was previously an orchard and is entirely free draining with its northerly aspect.

The whole site extends to approximately 5.67 acres and has been recently submitted in the Tunbridge Wells Call For Sites submissions.

Alex Cornwallis at BTF Partnership comments: “This is a fantastic opportunity and one that doesn’t come up for sale on the open market very often.

"This is a successful business and is situated in a great location in the High Weald of Kent near Cranbrook. There is significant potential with this site, and we anticipate there will be a lot of interest.”