A bookshop owner in Keynsham is preparing the final chapter in the life of his business.

David Brassington launched Family Books with his late first wife Janet in 1984 and is now looking to retire from the single-storey shop which houses around 1,000 books.

The 64-year-old has been on the hunt for someone to take on the business for three years and after months without interest, Mr Brassington was approached by four people in the space of 36 hours.

The father-of-one and grandfather is now in serious talks with one potential buyer and said he would be sad to say goodbye to the business but felt it was time to move on.

He said: "I feel it is time to retire.

"So many people want the shop to carry on and now I have to find one or two people with a bit of money to do so.

"There is quite an extensive stock of books and if we can't find a buyer, the shop will close and we will have to sell the stock as best we can.

"I feel a bit like a cricketer or rugby player saying it's time to move on as you do if you are a professional player."

Family Books began life at Station Road in Keynsham before moving to its current location at Temple Court shortly after the death of Mr Brassington's first wife.

He said it was a love of books that brought him together with his wife June, who is the head of customer service for libraries with Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Mr Brassington launched Family Books as a business from scratch with a view to providing wholesome literary entertainment for people of all ages.

He said: "When we started the concept was as a Christian bookshop. We wanted to fill the minds of people with good things and not just Christian things.

"We were encouraging young families to come in and they could be safe in the knowledge there was nothing offensive if they brought their children."

After a lifetime of working with books Mr Brassington is now considering writing his own during his new-found leisure time.

He added: "I just feel that there are so many other things I would like to do which I don't have time to do at the moment."