Villagers losing post office to get mobile service

Villagers in north Cornwall who are losing their post office will get a mobile service at their local pub one hour a week.

The Post Office said the St Breward postmaster had made the "difficult decision" to close St Breward Stores in Churchtown on 30 June.

It will be replaced by a mobile service run by the nearby Marshgate postmaster, from 11 July.

It follows the closure of Porthreath Post Office earlier this month.

The Post Office said the new St Breward mobile service would take place on Mondays between 15:00 BST and 16:00 outside The Old Inn in St Breward.

Other nearby villages which rely on the St Breward postmaster for mobile services will also be affected.

These include St Kew, St Issey, Delabole, Port Issac, Tintagel, Rock, Crackington Haven, Trevone and St Merryn.

The Marshgate postmaster will again step in, restarting mobile post office visits on 11 July, albeit on reduced days.

St Kew, for example, which is currently visited for 90 minutes on Mondays and an hour on Thursdays, will now have a service only on Wednesdays between 10:45 and 12:15.

In a social media post in April, St Breward Stores said reduced footfall, inflation, supplier costs, rising utility bills, stock availability, and the "enormous power" of larger supermarkets had led to the "devastating" closure of the shop.

The Post Office has said previously it faces a "particularly challenging period" and government funding it receives to maintain services must be prioritised in "locations with the greatest need".

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