A community-owned petrol station in North Yorkshire is celebrating paying dividends to all 237 investors.

Dale Head Garage, Hawes, was bought by people in the local area earlier this year.

The community raised £360,000 between them to buy the former Minerva SIPP station.

They received support from the Richmondshire District Council Community Investment Fund and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority's Sustainable Development Fund.

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Joe Pilling, Chair of Upper Dales Community Partnership (UDCP) said: "The previous owners were always supportive, but we greatly welcome a longer lease from an organisation so firmly rooted in the Upper Dales.

"It gives us the confidence to develop and innovate, for example with the Little White Car and with practical help to isolated people."

The successful purchase of the station has meant that other key community services such as the Little White Bus, Hawes Post Office, the Community Office and Library can still be provided by the UDCP.

Mark Sadler, Chair of the Dales Head Community (DHC) Ltd management committee said:  "The last twelve months has seen an incredible amount of hard work go on behind the scenes to secure the future of Dale Head Garage, and it’s a proud moment, twelve months on, to see the first dividend payment approved and issued to everyone who stepped up to help keep the garage a community asset.  

"My thanks in particular must go to David Colley, who drove this process through from start to finish and who has been a great support to the newly formed DHC management committee alongside Joe Pilling, Michael McGarry and Peter Metcalfe."

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Both the UDCP and DHC are planning for ways to keep improving the garage and ways to sustainably fund those changes.

One way they hope to improve the station is to look at ways to make the forecourt easier to use.

Another is looking into acquiring land to create an electric charging station.