THE residents of St Dominick, including pupils from the village school, turned out in force to celebrate the official opening of a new parking area.

Vintage cars, one of which arrived with special guest 101-year-old resident Herbert Buckle and his daughter Ann Proctor, took centre-stage as the ribbon was cut by local shop owner Nina Cox.

Said Nina: 'I am delighted to have been asked to officially open the new layby.

'It is already proving to be of enormous benefit to our village shop and post office, and our customers are overjoyed to have somewhere convenient to stop without holding up the traffic on this busy corner in St Dominick.'

To encourage more people to stop and shop locally, the parking area project was awarded just over £20,000 by the East Cornwall Local Action Group (ECLAG).

Other funding has come from the parish council, St Dominick Festivities and Projects Group, and Councillor Jim Flashman's highways budget.

Linda Emmett, manager of ECLAG, said: 'As the local action group nears the end of this current programme, it is keen to leave a long-term legacy for businesses in East Cornwall.

'While a layby does not appear as an exciting project on the surface, anything that enables convenient stopping for convenient shopping is to be encouraged.'

The need for the parking area near the village shop and post office was identified in the parish plan published in 2002.

Parish council chairman Diana Greene said of the parking area: 'It will be a great boost to our local shop and provide a safe area to park where people have time to chat rather than just parking along the road and dashing into the shop for a second or two.

'Community spirit is certainly something that has been rekindled with this new addition to our parish.'