MP Peter Luff is demanding the return of Evesham Post Office to the High Street after its "fatal" move to the Co-op.

The Mid-Worcestershire MP has written to Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier claiming that his constituents have suffered a "second rate service" since the move and setting out his demands that the still-empty former post office in High Street is re-occupied.

In a Parliamentary question, Mr Luff has also called on Ministers to investigate the practice of closing high street post offices and re-opening them in supermarkets.

He has also written to the Co-op accusing it of cashing in on the strategy and asking it to fund a move back to the High Street. Mr Luff says the Co-op embraced the post office "to boost the profitability of its Evesham store".

"When this idea was rushed thorough after a bogus consultation four years ago, I warned that the people of Evesham would suffer," he said.

"I criticised the Post Office for its choice of location and urged it to spend much longer finding the right place - how I wish they had listened to me and to the people of the town.

"Almost every other country in the world is proud of its post office, which is generally a major feature of any significant town's main street - look at the USA and France, for example.

"Why does the British Post Office feel so ashamed of the services it provides that it wants to tuck them away at the back of failing businesses like Evesham's Co-op?

"It's time for a rethink."

Five Worcester post offices also closed in February and March this year.