TWO new shops in Ottery are hoping to show the town is open for business.

CCA Car Accessories and Paul Ashby-Crane and Sons jewellers are both in Mill Street.

This is the seventh week Chris and Carole Astridge, at CCA, have been open. Having lived in Peterborough and Heathrow, they got to know Ottery through Chris’s brother.

Chris was a lorry driver for 30 years and Carole was a postal worker for 12 years.

Carole said: “Chris had had enough of being on the road, and we came across this shop on the internet, so thought we’d go for it.”

At first they couldn’t decide what to make it - they considered hardware and fishing but both were already covered in Ottery.

“I then came up with the car accessories idea and it went from there,” said Carole. “We also get in parts for people who are doing their own work on cars. Things are picking up really nicely, we’ve had a great response from residents.”

Next door, Rob and Dania Ashby-Crane have opened the second branch of the family-run jewellers, the first having opened 30 years ago in Exmouth.

They knew the previous owners, Paul and Sue Hackett. “They wanted to retire, and we wanted to expand,” said Dania.

The store offers jewellery repair and bespoke design services.

“We are a member of the National Association of Goldsmiths, so people can be assured they are dealing with a proper jewellers,” said Dania.

While Dania will be spending most of the time in Ottery, gemologist and jewellery designer Rob will be going between the two shops. They will be moving to Ottery in January.

A week since opening, Dania was pleased: “We like Ottery very much and the response has been fantastic, people like the fact there’s a jewellers in town.”