PEOPLE will return to use a village post office when it is reinstated, a parish councillor has assured.

Villagers in Kempsey, near Worcester, have been without a post office for a year since the post master resigned.

A concerned resident wrote to Kempsey Parish Council asking if councillors had completed a survey to see if demand for a post office was still present.

“Everyone who used it has made other arrangements; how do you know those customers will return?” said the letter writer.

“Have you considered a house-to-house survey?

“If the business plan fails you would have thrown away our money, which we cannot afford to lose.”

The new post office will open at the back of the community centre in the spring.

Worcestershire County Council has promised £4,500 towards the project on top of the £8,000 pledged by the parish council.

Royal Mail is expected to pay for some of the set-up costs and the parish council is applying for other grants.

Terry Ward, parish council chairman, told parishioners at this week’s meeting he believed users would return.

“The business case rests on the fact the post office is prepared to pay for the number of hours of operation and that is based on the survey done at the time when post offices were reviewed and it was decided Kempsey should stay open.

“When it is opened the customer base will come back. Even if the thing went belly up we would still be left with an asset which we could let. There is a shortage of letable rooms in this village.”

The post office will be run by a volunteer and offer most of the services it used to such as parcels and benefits.

Your Worcester News was the only member of the media present at this meeting.