POST Office services in Meeth will close temporarily from Wednesday April 20, leaving local residents with a seven-mile round trip to access services.

An outreach service has been running at the Bull and Dragon pub since late 2009, after the former village Post Office was closed.

The outreach service has been forced to close after the current core subpostmaster resigned.

The Post Office said it would be unable to provide temporary cover, using a mobile unit, as there was no mobile service operating in the area that could visit Meeth.

Meeth residents requiring Post Office services now face a seven-mile round trip to branches in either Merton or Hatherleigh.

Parish council clerk Janet Chapman said: 'By Post Office standards, the Meeth service is not used by a great number of people, but for the people who do use it, it is a vital service, especially for those who are less mobile and find it difficult to get out of the village.'

The parish council is urging local residents to write to the Post Office, stressing the importance of the vital village service.

A Post Office spokesman said: 'Customers can be assured that we will continue to work to find a solution that will provide a Post Office service to the Meeth community.

'We are currently seeking to identify a new core subpostmaster who is willing to offer a Post Office service to the Meeth community.

'We apologise for the inconvenience this temporary closure will undoubtedly cause but I can assure our customers that we will be doing all we can to restore Post Office services to the community as soon as possible.'