Hundreds sign petition to save Post Office

Post Office announced the proposed closures on 12 November

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition to protect a rural post office at risk of closure.

The Stricklandgate branch in Kendal, Cumbria, was named in a list of 115 at-risk branches.

The Post Office said it was looking at options for its wholly-owned branches around the country, which employ about 1,000 people.

Liberal Democrat Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who launched the petition, said he was "deeply alarmed" by the closure threat.

In the petition, Farron wrote that the Post Office was a "vital service" which needed to remain "where it is" or have "suitable premises".

"We can't go back to thinking it can be downsized and stuck in the back of WH Smith," he wrote.

Three years ago, Kendal's Post Office was at risk of being absorbed into a branch of the stationery shop.

Farron has also said the upcoming loss of High Street banks Halifax and Lloyds in Kendal next year would make the Post Office branch even more important for residents, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, there are still a number of bank branches in the town, including Barclays and HSBC.

Business and trade minister Gareth Thomas said "no decisions" had been made on any specific Post Office branch as of yet.