A NEW fruit and veg shop has opened in Pembroke Dock, supporting local farmers and helping to mitigate the cost of living crisis.

Tom Cooksey launched the shop in the St Govan’s Centre on Thursday, March 27 to run alongside his stall at Carew Market every Sunday.

Among the vegetables currently for sale there are cauliflowers and leeks sourced from local farmers, together with top quality Pembrokeshire potatoes from Rob Scale at Upper Haythog Farm, near Haverfordwest.

Fruit ranges from apples, tangerines and bananas to grapes, plums and strawberries, While lettuce and tomatoes, onions and garlic, mushrooms, swedes and carrots make for a good selection of vegetables and salad ingredients.

Available from £1.20 a box, Tom’s own fresh eggs are in high demand, being available to buy within a day or two of being laid, in contrast to the four-week-old ones hitting supermarket shelves.

Although not everything can be sourced locally - Pembrokeshire not being the ideal climate for growing bananas, for instance - in cases where products have been bought in, Tom keeps prices low to pass any discounts on to customers. The 67-year-old from Milford Haven is keen to help them in through the cost of living crisis. Tom himself is only too aware of this: with four-figure gas bills and only private dental treatment available, there is a limit to how far a pension will stretch, and that is part of what has provided the motivation to start the shop.

Apart from Leanne and Kathy’s excellent stall at the market hall each Friday, the town has been without a greengrocer for a while. It is much to be hoped that Pembroke Dock residents will make full use of this useful new shop as they go through the shopping centre. Opening days are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.