Shop owner Andrew Connolly has agreed to sponsor the Pewsey Carnival for the next three years.

Mr Connolly, who has Spar shops in Tidworth and Ludgershall, plus one soon to open in Pewsey, replaces the Co-op as the main sponsor to help with running costs and first aid cover.

The deal was signed with Richard Giles who, in addition to being carnival chairman, has compiled a detailed history of the carnival.

Mr Giles said: “The Co-op has gone on to do other things so we welcome this new sponsorship from Mr Connolly.”

The carnival has about 40-50 smaller sponsors and one main one.

Mr Connolly is a former Wiltshire county councillor and Tidworth parish councillor.

The shop used to be Miss Ody’s tea shop and later became a greengrocers run by the late Bill Major and, more recently, was a Londis store run by the Patel family. It is due to reopen on July 24.

Mr Connolly, accompanied by his close friend and business advisor Chris Franklin, signed the sponsorship deal in the Pewsey Carnival HQ – the Old Fire Engine House – next to the shop he has acquired.

He said he had been looking for a considerable time to open a shop in Pewsey and said the village had been very special to him since he used to serve as a special constable during the carnivals.

“I was based in Tidworth but I found myself policing Pewsey quite often and I covered the carnivals here for some years,” he said.