'Disastrous' post office closure threat in Worle

Action is being taken to safeguard the future of a post office in Weston-super-Mare which is threatened with closure.

The Worle High Street Post Office is situated inside the Co-op shop, which is being closed down.

It is shutting its doors to move to the Somerfield shop further along the High Street, which has been bought out by the Co-op group.

But many councillors in the resort and the town's MP, John Penrose, fear the move will result in the closure of the post office.

They believe this will have a devastating impact on the community, as the nearest alternative branches are nearly one mile away.

Mr Penrose and councillors Roz Willis, Sue Creasey and Lisa Pilgrim, have written to the chief executives of the Co-op and the Post Office in a bid to safeguard its future.

Mr Penrose said: "Worle Post Office branch is well-used, and if it were to close local residents would be forced to use the nearest alternative branches, which are almost a mile away.

"Weston has already lost six of its 27 post offices in the last couple of years and the loss of another one could be disastrous for local residents, particularly for pensioners and people with no means of transport.

"The local councillors and I have written to the Co-op to urge them to keep the Post Office open after they've moved to their new store.

"And we've written to the Post Office with the same message, telling them we've had several inquiries from other local shopkeepers who are interested in taking on the branch if the Co-op don't want to.

"We understand discussions are currently under way between the Co-op and the Post Office and obviously everybody hopes they're successful but if there are any problems, we need to act quickly to sort them out."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "Post Office Limited is committed to maintaining a service in this area and will seek to minimise any disruption to customers as a result of the Co-op closure.

"We are currently in discussion with the Co-op and other interested parties to find a resolution."

Post Office branches in Weston, which have already come under the axe, are Church Road, Kewstoke, Loxton, Ebdon Road, Severn Road and Uphill. These closures, announced last year, were part of 2,500 post offices closing nationwide.