Villagers appeal for return of post office service

People living in a Shropshire village that unexpectedly had its post office service taken away have started a petition to demand a rethink.

Earlier this month, the Post Office said that due to unforeseen circumstances, the Pontesbury postmaster would no longer be able to operate Minsterley, Hope and Shawbury outreach services.

Residents in Hope have complained that many rely on the service that had been based in the village hall.

The Post Office has apologised for the inconvenience and said it was exploring options to restore the service to Hope and Shawbury.

The outreach service had run alongside the community cafe in the village hall since the closure of the original post office in 2016.

Village Hall trustee Barry Peabody said on Wednesday: "We've probably got here today about 50 people coming for lunch.

"Most of those would have used the post office while they were here."

He said the outreach service had also been valuable to people in outlying communities and said the sudden end of the service had been a "massive shame for the people here".

The nearest post office for people living in the village is six miles away in Pontesbury and Mr Peabody said at the very least, the Post Office should have consulted local residents.

One of the people visiting the cafe on Wednesday said the loss of the service was "inconvenient" and another described it as "outrageous and ill-considered".

Jonathon Walton, who is building homes in the village for his family, said the post office service had been "one part of Hope that was very attractive".

He explained: "We're going to be living up here without other facilities, and having a post office here for just a couple of hours every week makes a big difference."

Hayden Morris, who is 92 and has lived in the area for 80 years, said: "This is all the thin end of the wedge; they're cutting the number of banks down; now they're cutting the post offices down."

"Us older people are not really computer literate," he said.

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.