A charity has stepped in to help the campaigners fighting to preserve Dartmouth's bookshop links with the world-famous author of the Winnie the Pooh books and his son Christopher Robin.

The Dartmouth Trust is offering to hand the campaigners the keys to a town centre shop free of charge for the next six months.

The recently formed Dartmouth Community Bookshop Group plans to use the empty shop in Higher Street to store shelf units and other equipment it plans to buy from the Harbour Bookshop when it finally closes at the end of the month.

It is looking at running a book ordering business from the shop unit opposite The Cherub – and also using it as a campaign HQ.

And the shop itself is thought to have its own links with Christopher Robin, the son of A A Milne, who launched the Harbour Bookshop in Dartmouth 60 years ago.

The book shop campaign group chairman Anthony Fyson MBE explained: 'The shop at 12 Higher Street could become the focus for a campaign to establish a community-run, not-for-profit bookshop. It may also be possible to set up a book ordering service quickly from these premises to ensure that everyone can still buy new books in Dartmouth. The intention is to open a properly stocked bookshop in due course whether in the refurbished Harbour Bookshop premises or elsewhere.

'We understand that 12 Higher Street was in fact used by Christopher Robin Milne while running a small shop from the Old Chantry after he relinquished his interest in the Harbour Bookshop.'

He also pointed out that the group need modest funding to buy the Harbour Bookshop equipment and added: 'Anyone who would like to help can contact us on 01803 835140.'

The campaign group has been formed through the Dartmouth and Kingswear Society.

It follows the decision by Harbour Bookshop owners Rowland and Caroline Abram to shut up shop after running the business in Dartmouth for 15 years and the outcry over the loss of the bookshop with its unique history, which followed.

Mr Fyson stressed that the possibility of using the shop as a Dartmouth book ordering centre was an 'aspiration' at the moment.

He added: 'If we can set it up as an office we would like to use it to promote the campaign and get something up and running and properly funded but it will take some time and substantial sums of money.'

The Dartmouth Trust Chairman John Hart explained: 'We have a shop unit that is not currently being used and the trust is happy to make its contribution to the campaign group's efforts.'