Village joy as post office reopens

Residents of Methwold yesterday said they hoped to provide inspiration to other communities after it emerged that their post office was set to reopen.

The general store and post office at Methwold closed at the beginning of the year after its postmistress decided to retire. But the village is set to get a rejuvenated service next month after £9,000 was raised to open a post office in the village hall.

Officials from the Methwold Community Project Group yesterday praised the contribution of local residents, businesses and support from local councils that will fund a four day a week facility at St George's Hall.

The campaigning group, which was formed after the village's post office in the High Street closed in January, has so far generated more than £5,000. And now the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk has stepped in to pay any shortfall in the £9,000 target that will allow the Post Office to re-establish its services in Methwold.

The news comes after 50 post office branches across Norfolk and west Suffolk closed over the past few months as a result of cutbacks.

Rosina Stone, from the Methwold Community Project Group, said it was “devastating” for the village's elderly population when the post office closed.

“There are a lot of people with no transport and cannot get to the nearest post office in Feltwell or Brandon.”

“There is now a real buzz in the village because it was deemed as a project that would never succeed. We are a little bit unique because our post office was not closed by the Post Office. It is a more difficult challenge for others, but we have proved that something like this can be done,” she said.

Methwold Parish Council has agreed to accommodate the new post office, which is set to open in the village hall on November 18. Norfolk County Council has also given £1,000 to the campaign.