00:00After 126 years, the future of this post office may be stamped out as it's set to close after
00:07current postmasters Tim and June retire next month. And being in rural Maidstone,
00:13for many customers, access to nearby post offices may not be so easy.
00:19Now the main concern for the couple is that once this post office closes,
00:23the nearest ones are Maidstone which is 8 miles away and Tunbridge Wells which is 13 miles away.
00:28There are other little villages nearby but they're not accessible unless you have a car,
00:33which is worrying for the couple because most of their customers are elderly.
00:37And so train is the next best option. There are a lot of people who don't drive and
00:41the public transport from here is negligible to say the least. So I was rather hoping we would
00:49transfer everything over to a new premises so the service wouldn't be cut but it's not looking like
00:56that's happening. In this transition time they've got nothing planned at all so they're quite happy
01:03to have this closed then nothing and maybe open another one in six months time. Or nine months time.
01:09Or whatever. No, there's no guaranteed time. The Youlding post office also sells locally sourced
01:15products and acts as a community hub. I think Youlding itself is a fantastic community where
01:21we're working and it will be a big big loss if there is no post office in an intervening period
01:27of time before it actually reopens somewhere else. How are these people going to be able to survive?
01:32The couple reached out to post office one year ago announcing their retirement but say they are
01:38disappointed that no replacement has been found. They also asked if a temporary outreach for one day a
01:44week in the same building could be established but have been told that this is not possible due to having
01:49too many customers. In a recent statement a spokesperson for post office said we know how
01:56important a post office is to a community. The vacancy has been advertised and we are in talks with
02:01two interested retailers and are working hard to keep any period of closure to a minimum.
02:06We apologize for any inconvenience that may be caused to our customers in Youlding.
02:10I would like the post office to reconsider opening one day a week until the new shop is open and
02:19not
02:19take everything away before then. We can just open one day a week until they take it over then at
02:24least
02:24we've given a little bit of a service. So now after 126 years of service and no one yet to
02:32replace Tim
02:32and June, is the fate of this post office signed, sealed and delivered? Naila Mahamud for KMTV in Youlding.
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