POWICK parish leaders have begun an urgent search for a new post office site after the current sub postmaster announced his resignation.

Keith Johnson will give up the role in December and this week applied to Malvern Hills Dist-rict Council for planning permission to change the Post Office at 17 The Village to residential use.

Royal Mail spokesman Don Veale said Mr Johnson would leave on December 31, but said it left plenty of time to secure another site before he left.

He said: "We are already pursuing various avenues to find a replacement post master or mistress and are currently in negotiations with Powick Service Station."

But despite preliminary negotiations already being underway, the situation has worried Powick's 2,000 residents who rely on the Post Office both as the village's only general store and for handing out benefits and pensions.

Chairman of Powick Parish Council Andy Lamb said: "The residents of the parish would be considerably inconvenienced if there was no post office in the parish, so as a parish council we will seek to do all we can. We know of one or two or people who might be interested in looking at it as a proposition."

He said they were due to meet with a Post Office relocation officer in the next two weeks to ensure that a new Post Office could be secured prior to the present one closing.

Worcestershire county councillor Tom Wells said: "Keith Roberts has every right to submit an application for change of use but I think planning officers would be concerned about agreeing to that until another Post Office is up and running at another location in the village.

"Even now we are looking to resolve the Callow End situation (where the Post Office closed in March) and there is a desperate need to keep a post office in Powick.

"I will be working hard to make sure that facility remains in the village at one location or another."

Mr Johnson declined to comment before meetings over finding an alternative location for the post office had been held.