A VILLAGE shop is set to be boosted by the return of a post office after a long gap.

Micheldever Stores on Church Street is poised to host a mobile post office for a couple of hours each week pending a consultation.

The Post Office has invited feedback from customers before taking a decision after the consultation ends on July 3.

The former Kings Country Stores was taken over in April by Julia and Jim Clarke who have run the village shop in Barton Stacey for the last eight years.

Mr Clarke said the PO’s six-week consultation looks promising and is hoping they will have services up and running by the end of June running a service between 9-11am every Monday and Thursday.

“The idea will be to have an outreach post office, a mobile post office if you like,” he said. “It will offer all the services from a normal post office and will be open a minimum of a couple of times a week.

“When I took over the shop I wanted to get as much trade as we can. I approached them and told them we had one previously and later started to discuss the options with them. We anticipate having one available very soon.”

William Helen, chairman of Micheldever Parish Council, said: “The council would support whole-heartedly the reintegration of the services into the village.”

PO field change advisor, Rob Worley, said: “We understand how important having a PO is to residents in Micheldever and we are confident the Hosted Outreach service will meet the needs of the local community and secure services for the future.”

Anyone interested in submitting their thoughts is asked to contact Post Office Ltd directly. Submissions can be made by Freepost YOUR COMMENTS to Post Office Ltd, via email to comments@postoffice.co.uk, via the customer helpline on 08457 223344 or textphone 08457 223355.