Flitwick's Post Office due to close at end of month

The Post Office in Flitwick, which is located inside a newsagent on the High Street, is due to close on 31 December

JThomas/Geograph Flitwick post office — The Post Office in Flitwick, which is located inside a newsagent on the High Street, is due to close on 31 December

A town's Post Office is due to close at the end of the month, leaving residents having to travel about two miles to their nearest branch.

The Post Office counter in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, which is inside another store on the High Street, will close on 31 December.

In a letter to customers, the Post Office said it was "facing a particularly challenging period".

The nearest other counter services would be in Westoning and Ampthill.

Gareth Mackey, an independent councillor for Flitwick at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: "I think there's going to be a very big impact.

"The closure of an essential service like the post office will have a real knock-on effect for people that can't drive.

"People really rely on it, it really doesn't make sense to me."

'Not financially viable'

The town council said it had "spent a considerable amount of time looking at what could be done to retain this service in Flitwick".

It had engaged in conversations with Central Bedfordshire Council, the Post Office Limited and other interested parties.

The council had looked at the possibility of taking over the Post Office and moving it to The Rufus Centre in the town.

Options were discussed at a town council meeting but "members agreed that it was not financially viable for the council".

"Without any supporting peripheral retail offer, such as the sale of newspapers and magazines, losses were estimated to be more than £20,000 per year or approximately £1.33 on each transaction, even if all existing customers continued to use the proposed service at the Rufus Centre, which seems highly unlikely," the town council said.

"The council will continue to do whatever else it can to support the retention of a Post Office service in Flitwick for residents and businesses."