Avid VHS movie buff travelling 600 miles to collect 20,000 tapes before they go into landfill

A man who runs the UK's last video shop is driving 600 miles to save 20,000 VHS tapes from being sent to landfill.

Movie buff Andy Johnson, from Liverpool, followed his dream to open a video rental store and has now had to expand his business after being inundated with a mountain of tapes from well wishers across the country, including the new mammoth donation in Dundee.

The 20,000 strong haul of VHS tapes was hoovered up over decades from car boot sales and will be collected by VideOdyssey owner Andy Johnson to be reunited with customers at his Toxteth shop.

Andy, 42, believes VHS tapes are beginning to enjoy a similar resurgence as vinyl, with film fans craving the same physical connection to their collection, as well as enjoying the artwork on the cover and the nostalgic feel of playing an analogue copy.

VideOdyssey opened in June 2018 and now has more than 10,000 tapes and a parade of 30 arcade machines.

Andy, who used to work as a clerk in a video shop as a teenager, now finds himself travelling across the country on his days off to gather people's collections of old gems and save films, which never came out on a digital format - from oblivion.

He's applying for funding to create a national archive - after being inspired to follow his dream in a chance encounter with movie director Quentin Tarantino years ago. 

He added: "It's taken over my life in a short space of time. Thankfully, I have a very understanding wife. As we have a three-year-old boy, and they've both travelled with me to pick up VHS hauls.

"But nothing like the size of this collection in Dundee.