A CENTURY-old family-owned store which found global fame in the Netflix Sex Education smash-hit series is facing demolition, following a planning bid to knock it down and replace it with housing and a new shop.

Some residents in Llandogo have spoken out over the plan to get rid of the historic Browns store on the Wye Valley road, which was run by the same family for 93 years until it closed in 2021.

Last summer, the family said they hoped to reopen the shop at some point after major repairs.

But that has apparently now been replaced by a £1.7m scheme to replace the building with four new two-bedroomed semi-detached houses, with the onsite B&B converted into a four-bedroom home and a new shop built in the corner of the site with an upstairs flat.

The store was thrust into the global spotlight three years ago with a starring role in Netflix hit series Sex Education, filmed in the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean, and starring Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield.

Mystery surrounded its long-term future after the shutters went down in November 2021, with the shop surrounded by fencing and signs saying it was a ‘construction site’.

But last June, family member Catherine Green took to Facebook to reassure villagers that it would be reopening, after renovations and some major structural work, including the removal of asbestos in the roof.

That plan now seems to have changed, with James Green of Robert C Green Shopfitters in Cwmbran applying to Monmouthshire Council planners to demolish the characterful village store and redevelop the site.

Roger Brown, who ran the store with wife Ruth from the late 1950s, sadly died shortly after the store’s starring role in the first Netflix series in 2019.

And at the age of 81, Ruth decided to hang up her apron at the end of 2021 following 63 years serving local people and Wye Valley visitors.

That led to speculation about its future, until Ruth’s daughter Catherine revealed that work was ongoing and they hoped to lease the business so it could continue to serve the community.

But now the new redevelopment scheme has seen some villagers rail at being “misinformed”, with plans showing a wooden clad, glass-fronted building called Llandogo Stores.

One poster on the village Facebook page said: “It’s a shame we were misinformed about what were the plans for the shop… after being told the shop was going to be renovated…

“It would have been good if the village had been kept better informed…

“When we moved into the village over 30 years ago, one of the first people to welcome us was Roger and Ruth, it was very kind of them both.”

Another added: “Yet more houses that local families will struggle to afford, and end up being second homes.

“80-week projection (build time), so mid-2024, we ‘may’ have a shop. Most loyal customers to Browns will have long gone elsewhere.”

One letter to counciilors says: “I feel that more space should be given to the shop premises, perhaps by reducing the number of dwellings.”

Others complained that no site notices had been attached to the building advertising the application.

But some posters pointed out that the family had said the building needed major structural work, and other plans to develop the site had been approved in the past but not acted upon.

Sex Education, which has a global audience of 40 million, saw the store play a starring role, with fans flocking to the shop and boosting trade.

Central character Otis was filmed trying to steal a bar of chocolate in the store in one scene, while it was also the location of a burglary in another episode.

Roger admitted after the first series aired that he didn’t have Netflix and hadn’t seen the series. But he added: “We are being asked about the show continually now. It is amazing…

“People stop when they see our name, which they kept for the show. So it is doing very well for us, which is lovely.”