Most southerly post office in Britain at The Lizard in Cornwall faces closure after 120 years

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Britain's most southerly post office is set to close later this year after nearly 120 years serving its community.

Sub-postmaster Len Trott, 71, and his wife Lynda, 58, have run The Lizard Post Office for 29 years and now want to retire. But changes to the way post offices are funded mean they are unable to find a buyer for the business.

Mr Trott, who is only the fourth sub-postmaster in The Lizard branch's history, said changes implemented by Post Office Ltd would effectively mean a 40% cut in his salary, meaning the service could not run independently. He said: "We cannot retire now or if we do, we go literally without a penny as we cannot sell the business any more. If the post office was to close, I think it would be disastrous for the village."

Mrs Trott, 58, added: "I think we need more services in the country, not less, and I think people are really going to suffer as a result of this. It's a one of the hubs of the community. You can see villages die when places like this close."

Post Office Ltd has suggested the branch, which first opened in 1898, could be taken on by an existing business, but so far no suitable candidate has been found that can meet the demands on staffing and opening hours.

The parish with a resident population of about 1,000 people, now faces losing its historic service when consultation ends in September. Unless new premises can be found, Post Office Ltd has proposed that a van would call at the village two mornings a week.

Villagers came to show their support to the couple including Rona Amiss, 49, of Tregullas Farm, who said: "We live and farm in the village and we use the post office to pay our bills and we have a lot of cash to pay in. The banks are all closed and it's more sustainable to come here than drive miles to Helston. What happens to those people that can't drive? It's just so unfair the way the Post Office has treated Len. It is a thriving post office but they haven't given them a chance."

Peter Hall, 65, said: "We need post office services within the village of some sort. We don't have the best internet connection here."

Tony Hendy, 73, who was born in The Lizard, added: "During my lifetime, I've seen the banks close and although internet banking has come on, there's still a necessity for people post letters and buy stamps. There's an awful lot of elderly people in the village who rely on this service. Losing the post would be devastating for a lot of people."

One of the business that considered taking on the post office was local pub The Witchball, run by Adam Weston. The 39-year-old said he spoke with Post Office Ltd bosses about running a reduced service, particularly in the quieter winter months, but was told the opening hours had to remain the same. He said: "We use it as a business and we bank with the Co-op because they use the post office. We looked at taking the post office on but financially it's not viable for us to take it on 360 days of the year."

Councillor Gail Kinvig, on behalf of Landewednack Parish Council, has been canvassing opinion on how the community can save the service, including the possibility of opening a community shop. She said: "I think any closure of the post office would be terrible, particularly for our elderly community. We would be left in the village with a mobile service for a couple of hours a week. There are serious questions about whether business banking would be possible with this option."

She added that the council had issued a questionnaire to villagers asking for their opinions and if they would be willing to volunteer to help run a shop. The deadline for responses closes on February 28.