A husband and wife team have defied the odds by bringing their independent bookshop to thrive in a period of huge upheaval.

Business is so good at the Book Shop in Loughton High Road that Matthew Blundy, 51, and his wife Tania, 52, are actually extending their property yet again.

The shop is now almost two-and-a-half times bigger than when they bought it 25 years ago after moving from Rugby in March 1990.

Since then, the business has thrived and gained a loyal customer base despite the huge advance of Amazon and new technology such as Kindles and other e-readers.

The Booksellers Association announced last year that there are now less than a thousand independent bookshops nationwide, but Mr Blundy is confident customers will keep visiting the Book Shop.

He said: “I have nothing against online shopping, I use it myself.

“We deal in Loughton, for Loughton, and it is the ‘leisure shopping’ opportunity that we offer.

“I think as well, the whole family can come to us whereas on the Internet it is not something you can do together, it is not social.

“I am sure our customers do both, but they keep on coming here.”

Families are key at the Book Shop, and the new extension will house more products for children when completed.

The shop is constantly full with large amounts of rotating stock, another way Mr Blundy says they keep customers returning.

He said: “Really, you have got to keep things changing, if you can do that you keep people coming back.

“You have to have enough of a range of things, so people see new things each time they come in.”

Offering the full leisure shopping experience and buying fresh stock have helped them, said Mr Blundy, but he added that the shop’s success would not have been the same without the strong husband-wife working partnership.

 “I think it is great, it does not feel like work at all”, he said.

“It has been something we have done for a lot of our life and it is something we want to keep on doing.

“It is a piece of both of us and we can share that with other people.

“I would recommend it.”