It’s like a trap – we can’t sell up or walk away

THE owner of Britain’s most southerly post office fears cost- cutting could leave his rural community without a branch for the first time in 121 years.

Leonard Trott, 74, is only the fourth postmaster to run the remote branch on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, which provides a vital service for locals.

Faced with health issues, he has been trying to retire after running the business for 31 years with his wife Lynda, 61, pictured. But Mr Trott has accused the Post Office of effectively killing off the business by slashing the £27,000 salary he now earns to £6,000 for a prospective new buyer.

‘We desperately need a local post office here,’ he said.

The former Rover foreman and lab technician from Surrey bought the business with his wife in 1988, believing it would eventually allow them to retire comfortably in Cornwall.

But the sudden decline in the branch’s income means that he has been unable to find a buyer and cannot afford to walk away. ‘I would be retiring into poverty without the compensation. All our savings, everything we have got is invested in the place and all of a sudden that has been taken away,’ he said.

‘I feel very angry and very bitter. We are just hanging on at the moment.’

Mr Trott wants to secure a new postmaster to take over the premises for his legions of customers, many of whom are elderly. ‘ Apart from the pub, this post office is the hub of the village,’ he said. ‘The locals rely on us.’

Mr Trott’s income had been decreasing in recent times until the closure of another post office around four miles away saw his business given a boost. But he said running the business has still proved a struggle, with declining fees paid by the Post Office and rising business costs. He added: ‘It would be very sad to go from this building but I see no choice now. It is pretty run down and needs an awful lot done to it. I just don’t see it surviving as a post office.’