A NEW and improved post office in Princetown could fail to open, if cash cannot be found to move office equipment and security.

A large town centre premises has been refurbished by the Duchy of Cornwall to house the new post office and a general stores, but there is confusion over who is liable for the cost of relocating the computer, safe and alarm system.

Sub-postmaster Paul Turnbull said he had been led to believe Post Office Ltd would pay the £5,000. But the company says he is not eligible for any grants, because he is not starting up a new business.

The existing post office in Tavistock Road and the new premises are both owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, which initiated the move as part of a plan to regenerate Princetown. The relocation is expected to boost business with longer opening hours and better accessibility.

Mr Turnbull, who took over the role of subpostmaster last September, said he had put £30,000 towards the project and all that was needed now was the removal of a few items of security and post office equipment.

'I had no indication that the costs would fall to me, as this relocation is something beyond my control,' he said. 'I have got to move because the Duchy is providing new premises.

'I will lose a third of my wages next year if I had to find £5,000 and I just cannot afford to do that.'

Spokesman for Post Office Ltd, Darren Panes, said the company had every sympathy with the sub-postmaster, but his request did not fit any criteria for funding.

'Unfortunately, he has applied for money from the Phoenix Fund which is designed to help start up post offices — not relocate existing ones,' he said.

'We do subsidise and help post offices which are struggling, but Princetown is not in that situation. It was not our choice to move the post office but the Duchy's.

'At the end of the day it is the sub-postmaster's business and although we have every sympathy because the move was forced on him, we cannot make him a one-off case because we have thousands and thousands of post offices asking us for money.'

The Duchy of Cornwall owns many properties in Princetown and is investing a lot of money into revitalising the village.

A spokeswoman for the Duchy said Mr Turnbull was aware when he took over the job that the intention was to move the post office into the larger premises.

'We have spent a considerable amount on refurbishing the former Dartmoor Giftshop to make it accessible as a post office as well as a shop,' she said. 'But the arrangement about the running of the post office, which includes moving the equipment from one place to another, is a private one between the Post Office and the Turnbulls.'

Mr Turnbull, who has started a petition and is writing to West Devon MP John Burnett, is being supported by the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters.

Federation spokesman Mark Baker said the post office had £450-million over three years to secure the rural post office network and it was 'outrageous' that they could not find £5,000 to help Princetown.