HI-TECH and health conscious . That's a Bury drug store company which has found a prescription for success on the Internet.

Gabbies, based on The Rock, has established its very own website to promote its ever-expanding range of natural products and to provide key advice to customers and consumers.

Its www.vitaminsandhealth.co.uk website was developed in-house by business partners Martin Prince, Mike Gabbie and Ivor Josephson who, between them, have more than 50 years of experience in the health, vitamins and natural products market.

They were also assisted by Bury Council's economic development unit.

Martin explained: "We'd worked on the website for about five months and we did it from scratch. "It contains details of many products we don't actually stock in the shop.

"The idea of going on the net was so that we could give people a lot of information that otherwise wouldn't be easy for them to get over the counter.

"Our site details 85 products we have and gives information about each one."

Among those featured are mastic gum, which apparently kills the bacterium that causes peptic ulcers, a cure for snoring, organic baby food and soothing music tapes.

To complement its existing over-the-counter business, Gabbies has established an on-line ordering and delivery service for Internet users.

Commenting on the benefits of the website, Martin continued: "It's good for the people who can't actually get into our shop.

"If they order one of our products on the Internet, we will deliver it next day."

The launch of the Internet service coincides with an upsurge in interest surrounding natural products.

"There's certainly a lot more publicity about this subject than ever before," says Martin.

"It's constantly being featured on daytime television. It's amazing the people who will see something on TV and come in and ask if we've got this or that.

"There's a big uptake in the number of people trying something natural rather than getting hooked on particular tablets.

"Folk are generally more health conscious nowadays. You just need to look at the expansion of gyms."

In the weeks the shop's website has been up and running, it's received hundreds of "hits", with product orders being received from as far away as Sussex.