RESIDENTS of a north Suffolk village have been reassured by the Post Office that they hope to restore its village store, after its closure this week.

Subpostmaster Julie Bullen resigned from her role at Mutford post office after nearly 19 years at the village store, which also sold stationery and confectionery, and closed the doors on her time there on Tuesday.

The closure means villagers face a three-mile trip to Worlingham for their nearest post office or a two-mile trip to Carlton Colville for groceries.

However, a spokesman for the Post Office confirmed that a replacement for Mrs Bullen is already in the offing. “Post Office Ltd appreciates the provision of a post office service in the local area is important to our customers and we remain fully committed to providing a permanent service in the locality.

“We are pleased to say that we have received an application which is currently progressing through our recruitment process and subject to their successful appointment we will be working to keep the break in service to a minimum.

“We apologise for any inconvenience the temporary closure may cause.”

That comes as a relief to Mrs Bullen and to Sylvia Greenacre, a Mutford resident of 30 years, who said: “We’ve got a church left in the village and that’s it now. We’ll all miss the post office being open, especially the elderly people who used it.

“There are plenty of old people who used to go in there just for a chat and there was always some chairs in there to sit down and talk, so it was quite a social place as well.”

Mrs Bullen – who has cited “personal reasons” for her resignation – is relieved to see the Post Office intends to replace her as she intends to continue living in the village, where her parents and daughter also live.

“I dearly hope my resignation won’t mean the end of a post office being in Mutford and that someone can come in and take up the role,” 56-year-old Mrs Bullen said. “It was an extremely difficult decision for me to resign and not one that was taken lightly. It has always been a happy post office where people have come and enjoyed the facilities, very much a community- orientated place.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to my lovely staff for all their help over the years and of course to all my customers who have been such a pleasure to serve, many of whom I consider dear friends and neighbours.

“Also to my dad, who will be 90 next month, because he has always been quite an influence in the shop. He always used to help me with my accounts and with pricing up items when we still ran as a shop.”

Anyone interested in taking over at the post office is asked to contact the Post Office on 08457 22 33 44.