THE outlook for Wellington having a post office in the near future is as gloomy as the recent bad weather, writes Barry Knott.

Wellington has not had a post office for more than two-and-a-half years because no-one can find ways of making it profitable.

One businessman told me last year he could only make £1 an hour and he could not see anyone making more than that.

County councillor for Wellington and Rockwell Green, Andrew Govier, said yesterday: “It is proving really difficult to find anyone interested in opening a post office in the town.

“It seems that the economics mean that the only way you can make one work is to have it as part of another shop, as our old one was in One Stop.

“The problem we have is that businesses which do host post offices in other towns, like W H Smith, don’t have the space in their store to accommodate one in Wellington.

“The council has agreed in principle to support one financially but at the moment no-one has come forward. We realise that there are a lot of local residents and businesses which really need a post office, so we will continue to explore all options.’

Post Office regional external affairs manager Richard Hall told Wellington Town Council last April that the Post Office was ‘still advertising and looking for a new partner to restore a Wellington branch’.

That did not please Cllr Janet Lloyd, a former Mayor of Wellington, who said at least three attempts by town councillors and a local business owner to offer solutions had been rebuffed by the Post Office.

The nearest post office for townsfolk is at Rockwell Green where the convenience store has been up for sale since last year with ‘no offers as yet’.

When it is busy, customers have to wait outside in all winds and weathers. The owners, Haran and Meera Niranjan, originally from Sri Lanka, want to retire after running the business for nearly 20 years.

The store was put on the market for £440,000 at the end of September but has not been sold despite interest in the business.

Surrounding village post offices rely heavily on volunteers.