A PARISH council is considering whether to buy its village post office in a bid to secure its future.

The current owner of Kingsland Post Office, parish councillor Jean Barbour, is looking to retire and has been searching for a buyer for some time but with no success.

But the service is considered extremely valuable to local villagers and the parish council wants to consult with them about the possibility of buying the service.

Ms Barbour, who has owned the post office building for more than 15 years, said: “It would be an absolute tragedy if it closed.

The Post Office doesn’t want it to close as it would be leaving a huge gap in the service.

“People would have to travel to Weobley, Leominster, Orleton or Leintwardine if it did shut.

“The trouble is that if they let it close they would never ever get a full time post office again.”

Although the cost of buying the building is not yet known, it is subject to a final evaluation process and it is expected to be around £350,000.

Fundraising could reduce the amount the parish council would need to borrow.

“If we decide to buy it, it would then mean having a referendum because although there was support from 84 per cent of the community for the post office in our parish plan, that wasn’t talking about coughing up money,” said Rod Smallwood, chair of the parish council.

“If we borrowed the money it would add to the precept quite considerably and would cost villagers more money each month.”

The parish council is considering the possibility of using part of the building as a meeting room if it does choose to invest.

A public meeting is being held at 7pm next Tuesday in the Coronation Hall to discuss the proposals.

“We are assuming the majority of people are in favour of retaining it. It’s the cost implications they have to take on board.”