WEOBLEY Parish Council has firmly stamped its pledge to help hang on to the village Post Office, but the beleaguered service is not out of the woods yet.

Parish clerk Paul Russell said that the council was currently caught “between a rock and a hard place”. While eager to support the sub-PO, there were legal limitations to how much it could help, he said.

The plight of Weobley PO has been on the agenda for more than 12 months and a newsletter has gone out from the council explaining the situation.

As Post Office Ltd has been moving away from the former business model, making ‘core’ payment to sub-Post Offices, commission is now only available from payments on sales.

“Unfortunately, commission payments on Post Office sales – including one of the most popular transactions, cash withdrawals – are pitifully low, generating little revenue and making the local PO model financially unviable unless located within an existing or new business which is able to support it,” the newsletter states.

After Weobley postmistress Anne Tootell’s retirement, the Post Office business moved to the Old Corner Shop, but the new business model has, unsurprisingly, presented real difficulties.

The parish council is unable to provide the full financial support necessary, nor is it legally permitted to fund an individual.

However, under a formal agreement for the sub-Post Office to host a Tourist Information Point, it could consider an annual contribution towards business overheads.

With the newsletter, the parish council has sent out forms to see whether the community would be happy to help out with financial support for the service.

Mr Russell said: “A decision has been made for the parish council to allocate an annual £3,000, £250 per month, in return for tourism information being available.”

The parish council’s hands remain tied until the Post Office officially appoints a sub-postmaster or mistress at Weobley, he added.

“We are caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Mr Russell.