The village Post office in Tarbolton is under threat and local councillor Arthur Spurling is campaigning to keep it open for residents.

The branch, which operates out of the Spar shop on Montgomerie Street, is set to shut at the end of this month.

Those wishing to use a Post Office will have to travel to Mossblown or Annbank, six miles away, if the closure goes ahead.

Cllr Spurling, the Kyle ward councillor, is hoping quick action can save it, or at least make the Post Office provide the facilities at another location nearby.

He’s calling for villagers to let their voice be heard and sign protest notes and deliver them to the Spar shop, from where he will collect them and pass them on to the Post Office and the Scottish Parliament.

He said: “I feel really annoyed about the whole damn thing. Tarbolton’s a sanctuary for older people, lots of the younger generation have moved out to the city for work, people in Tarbolton are getting on a bit. To expect them to get out take a bus to Mossblown is a problem.”

Besides the postal facilities, residents will also lose out on the community benefits of having such a place to chat and engage with one another, says Cllr Spurling.

“We’ve seen the Post Office in Sanquhar under threat, the one in Dundonald is gone, we’re now seeing a move to shut more, how many others are going to go?” Said Cllr Spurling.

The Post Office claim the closure is due to the resignation of the operator of the partner service and the withdrawal of the premises for PO use.

They say the branch will close temporarily while they investigate the options available to reinstate a service to the local community.

But they add it’s important that any future service is sustainable for the persons operating it and for Post Office Limited.

Cllr Spurling says he recognises the need for any P O to be cost effective, but laments that more emphasis is not placed on the business as a public service.