Residents in PO plea

Residents are calling for the service at their village Post Office to be continued at the same level once it re-opens.

Sutton-on-Trent Post Office will close temporarily from today but it is hoped new premises can be found soon.

The Post Office wants the new service to be different to the one in place now.

Rather than have a separate counter for Post Office services, the proposal is for all transactions to take place alongside retail sales in the shop that takes it over.

Lincolnshire Co-op, which has a store next door, has been approached about providing a Post Office.

But villagers say the change is a downgrading of the service and have set up a petition to oppose the plans.

The district councillor for the area, Mrs Christine Rose, said the dedicated Post Office counter offered more privacy for customers.

A meeting is being organised with the Post Office between Newark MP Mr Patrick Mercer, Mrs Rose and the area county councillor, Mr Bruce Laughton.

A spokesman for the Post Office said: “Our proposal for a future Sutton-on-Trent branch will deliver all the key services used frequently by local people — including automated banking, benefits, bill payment and mail transactions.”