Fears PO service is lost for good

Tuesday 7th July 2009, 10:48AM BST.

A building which housed a Shrewsbury post office could soon be let as a shop specialising in Polish foods as fears for the future of the branch continued to grow with nobody applying to run it 10 months after it closed.

Postal bosses have been trying to find a solution to get Castlefields Post Office reopened ever since it closed last September with a job as sub-postmaster being advertised and a series of talks taking place.

But now Severnside Housing is in talks to let the building to an independent retailer to run it as a food store specialising in Polish foods.

And Post Office Ltd today confirmed it has still not had any applicants wanting to reopen the branch.

Councillor Alan Mosley, Shropshire Councillor for Castlefields and Ditherington, said he feared the service would never be restored.

He said: “Unfortunately that does put the last nail in the coffin regarding a post office reopening in the previous premises.”

Mike Dalton, a spokesman for Post Office Ltd, said this month’s deadline for applications for the role of sub-postmaster had now been extended until November.

Brigid Burbridge, head of legal services at Severnside Housing, said: “We are currently discussing terms with an independent retailer with a view to letting the unit.”

View more: Castlefields news, Ditherington news, Shrewsbury news, Shropshire Council news.