As recently reported the Mepal Post Office branch and shop are closing temporarily for a refurbishment until Thursday 29 August 2024.

Meanwhile the Post Office has announced today that its Sutton branch in the One Stop is due to close on Thursday 27 June at 5:30PM. As previously advertised, the One Stop national management no longer wished to host the facility at its Sutton store. Instead the Post Office will be opening a reduced service called Drop & Collect in the One Stop, starting on Saturday 6 July at 9:00AM.

The Post Office says: “Drop & Collect will offer services from a handheld device, allowing customers to maintain access to bill payments and prepaid parcel services from the current branch location.” The services available will be parcel collect and return (prepaid only), bill payments, and mobile top-up services. These will be open Monday to Sunday 7:00AM to 10:00PM.

For Post Office services other than this very limited offer, residents are advised to travel to Witchford or Ely.

As there will be a two-month overlap between the closure of the Sutton Post Office and the reopening of the Mepal Post Office and shop, I have asked what will happen in this period. The Post Office has said it is exploring whether a temporary service can be provided to customers during this time and will share further updates if this is possible.

Meanwhile in the longer term, the Post Office did advertise the opportunity to run a Post Office branch from another retail outlet in Sutton. Not surprisingly, given everything we have seen on television recently about the experiences of sub-postmasters, this appears not to have resulted in any applications. If anyone is interested in providing this service in the village, then they might want to contact Post Office Limited.