Plans being drawn up in a bid to reopen village shop

The shop, Post Office and fuel garage was located at W and J Smith, which shut its doors last month.

The Post Office says that it is investigating which options are available to reinstate services to the community.

Meanwhile, the area’s ward councillor Steven Bridgett says he is involved in a plan to help try to solve the situation.

Writing on Facebook last week, he said: ‘I am currently working with a Thropton resident – who has approached me – to offer match public funding that will hopefully enable a new community shop to open in Thropton – possibly on a different site – that will continue to provide Royal Mail and National Lottery services and may provide fuel in the future. I will update residents as soon as I have more to report.’

Responding to Coun Bridgett’s post, one person described the message as ‘good news’, while another wrote: ‘That is the best news ever, can’t live without these services. Good luck.’

Following the Facebook post, Coun Bridgett told the Gazette: “After the closure, a lot of residents from Thropton and the surrounding small villages and hamlets have been telling me how important the shop and Post Office is, so it is important we do what we can to facilitate the reopening of the shop and Post Office services.”

A Post Office spokeswoman said: “Regrettably, following the premises no longer being available for Post Office use, the branch closed temporarily on May 18.

“We are investigating the options available which will enable us to reinstate a Post Office service to the local community. It is important that any future service is sustainable for the person operating the service and for Post Office Ltd.

“Future provision will reflect customer numbers and usage and we may take the opportunity to establish an alternative type of service.

“This may be an outreach service where a postmaster from a nearly branch offers the facility with hours of opening set to reflect the likely number of customers who will use the service.”