LOCHWINNOCH residents have slammed a decision to close the village’s only Post Office.

The shutters will come down at the Post Office within the Spar store, in Main Street, on Sunday, March 21.

However, villagers have strongly objected to the plans and are demanding that the closure is postponed while another location is found.

David Mellor, chair of Lochwinnoch Community Council, said residents hope to delay the closure by at least six months.

He told The Gazette: “The community council is very strongly opposed to this decision.

“We are very annoyed at there being no consultation about this and the very short notice of this closure.

“We have been referred to Kilbirnie Post Office as an alternative but I understand that is also earmarked for closure and there are people in Lochwinnoch who don’t easily have access to private transport.

“There were strong objections to the closure of the Post Office four years ago, when it moved from it’s original location in the High Street to the Spar, but we were promised the service would continue.

“If we have no Post Office in the village, it will be a great disadvantage. We recognise that a lot of communication is shifting online but there is certainly still the need for a substantial parcel delivery service in the village.”

Councillor Derek Bibby, who represents Lochwinnoch, added: “This is terrible news for the village.

“Yet again the needs of Lochwinnoch are being overlooked.”

A spokesperson for Spar said there would be no job losses as a result of the closure.

“We are continually reviewing the services within our stores and the Post Office counter is impacting our overall store operations, meaning it is no longer viable for us to continue to offer the service at this site,” added the spokesperson.

“In the current climate and with additional pressures on our stores, we must ensure that we protect our core business. This means having a convenience store that can trade well and sustainably service the community in which it operates.

“We remain committed to the communities we serve and keeping as many stores open as we can to provide goods locally to our shoppers, especially during such challenging times.”