A PETITION to keep a post office in Wey Hill has gathered over 4,000 signatures.

But with Marks and Spencer now saying it will open its food hall and cafe in the refurbished premises at the old Co-op premises in the spring, no commitment has yet been given by the store to extend the post office tenure at the Lion Green store beyond the end of May – when the current franchise runs out.

But the Post Office says there has been a response to its advertisement to take on a new operator for a Wey Hill sub-post office from May, possibly at a new location.

A spokesman said negotiations were at the “very early stages. Any relocation would be subject to six-week public consultation”.

Karen Gleave, who started the petition, said 4,000 signatures had been gathered at the Lion Green post office alone, with many more signatories signing copies in businesses across Wey Hill.

Since the Co-op shut its doors in July, while waiting for refurbishment work to start at the boarded up premises, counter staff have continued to run the post office branch with customers walking through a boarded-up section to get to the counter at the back of the building.

Mrs Gleave, who started a social media campaign with fellow Haslemere residents Monique Cartwood and Abby Bishop, said: “When you have over 4,000 people signing a petition there has to be a pretty big section of the community supporting it. A lot of older people live near this location and they rely on a post office at this end of town.

“The brave Post Office staff are still behind their counters, running the post office with building work going on all around them.

“They are employed by the Co-op under a franchise with Post Office Ltd.

“The Co-op contract will run out in May.”

She was concerned because anyone wanting to take over the franchise to run a post office as part of a business in Wey Hill would need to apply now as the application process takes around four months.

“If we are to have an uninterrupted service, the application will need to go to Post Office Ltd within the next week or so – hence the sense of urgency.”

The Post Office spokesman added: “We are still committed to maintaining a post office in this area and we are working hard to achieve this. The vacancy is still being advertised.

Mrs Gleave added: “We have written to M&S asking they apply for the franchise and take over the running of the post office in its current location. We have not yet received a response.”

An Marks and Spencer spokesman told The Herald: “We appreciate the feedback from the local community and will take that into consideration, but typically we do not operate sub-post offices in our stores.”

Information for anyone interested in taking over the post office can be found at www. corporate.postoffice. co.uk – search for business opportunities. Also go to www.runapostoffice.co.uk