A WINCHESTER music lover has opened the city's first independent record shop in 20 years.

Elephant Records has set up in Kings Walk to capitalise on vinyl's remarkable comeback.

Alex Brown hopes the store can be a spiritual home for the city's dormant alternative music scene.

The 37-year-old, from Harestock, took voluntary redundancy from Winchester Discovery Centre last year after 15 years in his post.

He took his extensive collection of hip-hop and dance albums, rented a unit in the shopping strip and started bringing in new and used stock.

Now he sells records and CDs from classic rock and pop to jazz, techno, blues and ambient soundscapes.

"It was something I'd always wanted to do," he said. "I'm really passionate about music and I thought Winchester could do with a good independent record shop. I thought it might work in Winchester."

Vinyl sales hit 2.1 million last year, a 21-year high fuelled by older listeners rediscovering classic records and fashionable youngsters looking for an alternative to online streaming.

"It's been a real mix of people coming in," said Mr Brown. "A lot of students, older men, a lot of people just coming in and chatting about music."

Perhaps it's no surprise his best seller so far is from Sleaford Mods, whose 2015 breakthrough Key Markets has introduced younger listeners to the snarl of '70s punk.

Elephant is the first specialist vinyl shop in Winchester since Venus Records, in St George's Street, which closed in the 1990s.

The only other stockists today are charity shops, Kings Walk's indoor market and HMV, which put wax back on its shelves when it moved to The Brooks Centre in 2014.

Mr Brown believes a network of shops and venues could stir up a stronger alternative scene in Winchester.

He is discussing potential collaborations with the city's premier venue for young bands, the Railway Inn.