NEGOTIATIONS are under way to find a new home for Post Office services in Wellington.

The Post Office at the One Stop store in High Street will close on Saturday (August 10).

But members of Wellington Town Council heard on Monday that all was not lost and that a solution may be around the corner.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Mark Lithgow told councillors that a ‘relatively new retailer’ to the town was interested in taking on the Post Office.

Cllr Lithgow said the retailer’s premises were not large enough to accommodate the Post Office but said it was looking at moving to a larger building which could cater for the extra business.

He said he did not want to say too much because negotiations were ongoing but he was glad that he and district councillor Cllr Keith Wheatley had been ‘dragging’ the relevant parties together and were having conversations.

“The Post Office is desperate to find somebody to take it on,” he said.

Cllr John Thorne added: “It is a huge blow to the town to lose its Post Office but I am confident that Wellington will get its Post Office back.”

He added that there would be a ‘gap’ between the current Post Office closing and the new one opening as any change over would not happen quickly.

“The scenario is that there will be a temporary Post Office and then a permanent one in the new premises,” he said. “How long all of this will take I do not know.”

But Cllr Thorne suggested the council look at getting in touch with Post Office officials to see if the Post Office could reduce its fees as it costs up to £70,000 to run a facility.

“It is just not viable for a lot of retailers to take that on,” he said. “We should write to the Post Office to reconsider these fees and to look at reducing them.”

Cllr Thorne also suggested the council should contact Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow to step in and talk to relevant Government Ministers about the future of Post Offices and what can be done to safeguard them.

“They should be doing more to replace these services when they close,” he said.

Cllr Mike McGuffie described the closure of the Post Office as ‘social vandalism’.

When the Post Office in the town centre closes, the nearest one will be at Rockwell Green.

Councillors are aware not everyone will be able to get there and the loss of the Wellington facility will cause problems.

The Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, said: “A lot of people might not be able to get to the Post Office at Rockwell Green but I have already asked them down there whether they are ready for the queues at the door. I’m lost for words really about this.”

A Post Office spokesman has previously said that it is ‘committed to providing a Post Office in Wellington’ and was looking at ways to provide Post Office services.

Any retailer interested in incorporating a Post Office in their premises should email [email protected] or phone 0333 3455560 and then select option 2.