As reported last month, the Post Office premises were repossessed on Friday November 12th by the landlord Allsabrook Developments Directors Pension Fund Limited.
Whilst the Post Office counter was not affected by the repossession, and the Royal Mail Press Office said "It is business as usual", the building certainly doesn't look very inviting and people would be forgiven for thinking the Post Office had closed as well as the retail business.
News that a tenant had finally agreed to take over the lease at 45 London Road had therefore been met with much excitement and relief around the village and at Monday night's Parish Council meeting.
However, when seeking clarification from Bluemantle, the landlords of 45 London Road, I was disappointed to learn that the lady, who was intending to open a new business there in January, had actually pulled out of the deal a day or two ago as a result of the lengthy Post Office procedures and processes.
John Leigton, Associate Director at Bluemantle, told me "We have been through this process 4 times in the course of the year and unfortunately we are back to square one."
Whilst Bluemantle are very keen to keep the Post Office open and find somebody to take over the running of this vital service, apparently there are so many elements involved in seeking approval from the Post Office that it is putting people off.
John said "We have just got to see if we can find someone, but it is not easy at the moment. People have dropped out partly due to frustration at the length of time the whole process takes.
"It is difficult because we have been through this process 4 times this year and we are not sure how many more times we can go through it. We use the Post Office as a business and personally, and they are tenants of ours, but they are not paying any rent. Potentially we will have to make a difficult decision in the new year.
"We have made a heck of a lot of effort to find someone and put a lot of hard work in to each individual party. We had everything agreed our end and had instructed a solicitor to draw up the lease. It is pretty frustrating."
John added "We have agreed with the gentleman who is running the Post Office that he will continue to do so until the end of January, but he is not in a position to take over the Post Office."
