A village post office is set to close after a downturn in trade.
Set to close - Little Oakley post offiice
Little Oakley post office has been run for the past two years by Lyn Williams.
But Government moves to encourage customers to receive their benefits through direct debit and competition from supermarkets has meant trade at post offices has plummeted.
Sub post mistress Mrs Williams said she had already had an offer from someone to buy the property and convert it into a home, and she was planning to give the Post Office her 12 weeks' notice. The closure will mean Little Oakley is without a village shop.
Mrs Williams said customers who collected benefits were sent letters encouraging them to use banks instead, and many did not realise they could still use post offices.
"We have just come across so many brick walls and there's hardly any customers."
Two staff have been made redundant as a result of the closure. The post office will remain open for the next few weeks but will probably close in the next three to four months.
Published Friday January 23, 2004
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