Delight as Port St Mary post office saved from closure

The post office services had been under threat of closure for several months

A village post office in the south of the Isle of Man is no longer facing closure, the Isle of Man Post Office has said.

A new sub-postmaster has been appointed by the organisation to continue counter services in Port St Mary, following the expiry of the existing contract.

The post office reopened a tender process last year after an initial lack of interest in taking on the role.

Local MHK Michelle Haywood said she was "delighted" the service would remain.

'Community hub'

Reducing the number of loss-making postal counters from its retail network is part of the a five-year strategy for the organisation, which was approved by Tynwald in 2019.

The post office counter had been due to close on 29 October before the extension, with the post office blaming a fall in demand for counter services in favour of online transactions.

However, David East will now take over as sub-postmaster from Jeff Calvert, who had kept the service running beyond the end of the contract until a new operator could be found.

The counter will continue to be run from inside the Examiner Shop newsagents, which has also been taken over by Mr East.

Ms Haywood said it was "really important" that the counter was retained as it was a "little hub for the community", which allowed people to collect pensions, make payments and send parcels.

She also praised the post office board for being "flexible" when they "did not have to be" by extending the expressions of interest period last year.