Peter and Anne Marie Clarke have called it a day at Weaverthorpe Village Shop and Post Office after making hefty losses over several years.

They are to start a new life in the Canadian province of Ontario this summer - leaving behind the village business they have run for 10 years.

Mr Clarke, 61, said they felt sad to shut the shop but explained the business had become unviable - last year they made a loss of around £6,000.

"Enough is enough, we've lost so much money," he said.

"It's a nice village and we've done our bit but there comes a time when we have to stop."

The couple have run the village shop and post office from the front room of their home, at Burnside Cottage on Main Street, for 10 years but will move to the city of Sarnia in July.

Mr Clarke's father was Canadian and they have friends and family in the area.

The house and business have been up for sale since August 2006 but no one came forward to take on the business.

Mr Clarke, who is an ex-Army officer, suggested the business would have been profitable had more people shopped there and if the government had not cut the services the post office could offer.

He said: "It's sad to see it go. It knocks the heart out of the village to close.

"We have been here for 10 years but there are people who have never used the shop. But the people who do use the shop are marvellous."

Weaverthorpe Post Office is to close at 1pm on Friday May 30 and its services will then be run from the Star Inn on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 12pm and 4pm.

Other post offices in the Driffield area affected by government cuts to services imposed across the country include those at Foxholes, Lockington, Burton Fleming and Wetwang.

Burnside Cottage is now for sale as a four-bedroom property, for an asking price of £350,000, through estate agency Boulton and Cooper Stephensons of Malton.

Mr Clarke said: "It's a lovely house and garden in a nice spot in the village so we will have left something nice for the village."

The couple are to hold a garage sale before they depart for Canada and all proceeds will go to a cancer charity. It will take place on May 31.