The parents of a Midland post office worker shot dead during an armed robbery have put the family business up for sale – but say they do not want to move too far away from their friends who supported them through the worst year of their lives.

Craig Hodson-Walker, aged 29, was shot through the heart at the post office and general stores in Fairfield, near Bromsgrove, in January.

His mother Judy, aged 57, said she wanted a fresh start, away from the shop with her husband Ken, who was shot in the leg during the botched robbery.

“We’re going to retire somewhere but we are going to stay in the area.We don’t want to move away from here. Even though we were touched by evil that day, we have made some wonderful friends.

“I want to be positive now – I remember Craig’s life, the way he lived it, the fact that he was happy, he did what he wanted – not think about the manner of his death,” she told a national newspaper.

She said the couple were grateful to everyone in the village for their support during the terrible months that followed the tragedy saying it got them through each day.

“We were so grateful to the hundreds of people who volunteered to run the shop. They had a rota and worked for nothing. It was absolutely amazing,” she said.

Mrs Hodson-Walker admitted it was very difficult returning to work at the exact place where her son was murdered and she and her husband have been prescribed anti-anxiety drugs to help them cope. “It has caused us stress and anxiety being in the same place but the people around us have given us such incredible support and love, which has helped so much.”

She added: “We were like any family, we had our rows, but by and large we were very close.

“Craig was very logical, very calm. He would always think about both sides of an argument, he was a good listener.

“Where he was stubborn he was also loving and giving, where he was moody he was also very caring. He had a wicked sense of humour – the customers used to love his banter.

Christopher Morrissey, aged 32, his brother Declan Morrissey, 34 and Anselm Ribera, 34, were jailed for life with a minimum of 34 years at Birmingham Crown Court earlier this month.