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BLOCKLEY volunteers have completed a renovation programme in the village, paving the way for a new postal service to begin in June.

Residents have been hard at work refitting the Old Coach House which opened on Monday as a village shop but will eventually become an outreach post office service.

Members of the Blockley Cooperative Association (BCA) fought for about 18 months to save their post office before agreeing a deal to open the outreach service from 9am to 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Current postmaster Ben Coley will remain in the existing post office until June when it closes and Evesham postmaster Matthew Bumph- rey takes over the new service.

BCA member Pam Merritt said: "It was very important to all of the villagers that we keep some form of post office service in Blockley. We have worked very hard to secure the outreach service and we are delighted that the village will have it for three days a week.

"We had overwhelming support from the village and the skilled help we had from residents in refitting the Old Coach House was fantastic."

The news comes after leader of Gloucestershire County Council, Councillor Barry Dare, wrote to Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier asking for more details on how Essex County Council is tackling the issue of post office closures.

Cllr Dare has asked to be kept informed of the progress of Essex's plans to financially support threatened branches to find out if the same method would be viable in Gloucestershire.

He said: "Gloucestershire County Council is committed to finding the best solution to this problem. At the moment we do not know what the financial implications are of directly supporting these branches and that is why we need to find out more before making any decisions."

10:40am Friday 25th April 2008

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