A family-owned pet shop which closed when the owner retired has been given a new lease of life thanks to his nephew.

B. Thomas Pet and Garden Supplies, in Bargoed, Wales, is up and running once more after 24-year-old Sam Collins agreed to re-open the shop.

His uncle Peter Collins, 66, retired from the business, which had served the local community for more than 60 years, in November.

“As a kid I always kept animals so this move seemed like natural progression,” Sam explained.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying it. All my other jobs just don’t compare. Who wouldn’t want to work with animals?”

The pet shop was established in Bargoed in 1950 by Len Collins, whose father, David ‘Bob’ Collins, had run a corn merchant business in Dowlais and Merthyr Tydfil.

Len had worked in the family business before moving his young family to Bargoed to set up on his own.

Initially starting off in the High Street before later moving to the current premises in Hanbury Road, his eldest son Peter took on the shop in 1972.

“I thought it was a real shame that the shop had to close, having been in the family for so long,” said Sam, a history graduate.

“Everyone was over the moon when they heard that I was taking it on. I don’t think people realised how much they would miss it and everyone has stopped by to congratulate me. It’s a privilege for me.”

Sam said he aims to continue the same, high quality service that his family have provided in the past. And while he will continue to sell “anything fluffy, furry and feathery”, Sam also hopes to branch out and stock more exotic animals.

Peter said he was delighted that the business will remain in the family.

“When I saw the shutters down on the shop, it was awful. Knowing that the shutters are going up again is great, and more so because it’s staying in the family,” Peter, from Gilfach, said.

“Sam is young and it will be a big learning curve for him but he has a lot of new ideas. I’m pleased the business is in safe hands.

“The rest of the family are just as delighted as me.”