Battle to save post office as council subsidy is withdrawn

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Villagers are being urged to help safeguard the future of their post office.

Residents of Henham, near Stansted, are being asked to say how often they use the facility, which is housed in the volunteer-run community shop in the High Street, and what they use it for.

The post office depends on Essex County Council for financial support, but that will cease in December.

In an open letter to the community, Christopher Swain, chairman of Henham Village Shop Association, writes: “We hope that some new arrangement may be possible, but it will be important for us to show how much the post office is valued by the village and to be able to back up our plea for continued support by some hard data.”

Henham’s sub-post office was shut in July 2008 as part of a Government closure programme affecting 2,500 branches across the country.

It reopened that November after the county council thrashed out a deal with Post Office Ltd to get it up and running again.