A SUFFOLK village is today coming to terms with the news that its post office is to close in the summer, leaving it with no local convenience store.Alan and Judy Lewis, who have run the Ufford Post Office for the past three years, announced the closure in an open letter to the community.

By MARK BULSTRODE

east reporter

mark.bulstrode@eveningstar.co.uk

A SUFFOLK village is today coming to terms with the news that its post office is to close in the summer, leaving it with no local convenience store.

Alan and Judy Lewis, who have run Ufford Post Office for the past three years, announced the closure in an open letter to the community.

Mr Lewis said: "It is after much heart-searching, and with very great sadness and disappointment, that we are giving notice of our irreversible closure in the summer.

"Sadly, social, economic and political changes, despite our efforts, have succeeded in making yet another village shop and post office a thing of the past."

The couple invested large sums of money in refurbishing the post office soon after they took over the store, in March 2000, but said they had been "unable to attract sufficient new customers to make the shop viable".

They said food sales from the five new chillers and freezers that they invested in barely covered their electricity costs.

Mr Lewis said: "We knew it was a risk when we took it on but we thought that, with a bit of a facelift and refurbishment, we could turn it around.

"This is a lovely place and there is a really lovely bunch of people here and we will be sad to go."

Heather Heelis, clerk of Ufford Parish Council, said: "The council deeply regrets the decision made to close the post office and village shop and are very sad at the general lack of support for the shop and post office from within the community.

"We know that Alan and Judy have not taken this decision lightly."