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

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

The community raised £360,000 to buy the former Minerva SIPP station after receiving support from Richmondshire District Council and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Hawes Community Petrol Station

Mark Sadler, chair of the Dales Head Community (DHC) Ltd management committee, said: “The last 12 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, 12 months on, to see the first dividend payment approved and issued to everyone who stepped up to help keep the garage a community asset.

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“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.”

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 Upper Dales Community Partnership (UDCP).

Joe Pilling, chair of 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.”