Port St Mary: Possible reprieve for village post office counter

Counter services in Port St Mary are currently run from inside Calvert Newsagents

The search to find a new sub-postmaster in Port St Mary has reopened following a late bid to take on the services, the Isle of Man Post Office has said.

The village counter was due to close on 29 October after no one responded to a two-week tender process last month.

The organisation has now reopened the bidding process for a further two weeks to consider the late application.

However, the board has warned there was "no guarantee" a solution would be found despite the current reprieve.

Chairman Julie Edge said overall demand for counter services was "diminishing" in favour of digital transactions.

Ms Edge rejected claims that the board had "failed to recognise the community value" of town post offices in its original decision to close the counter, insisting facilities would stay in place across the island "where it is viable and there is interest to maintain services".

The identity of the late bidder has not been revealed and a new window for tenders from any one else interested in taking over the services will remain open until 26 October.

Cutting the number of loss-making postal counters from the post office's retail network is part of a five-year strategy approved by Tynwald in 2019, which has this year seen the body return a profit for the first time since 2017.

Vice-chairman Chris Thomas said the organisation was working on meeting both modern needs and "traditional demands for face to face services" using the resources available.

The body was also competing with large private sector companies "which don't maintain shops, and in fact often contract the post office to deliver the last mile in most cases", he added.