Community offered the chance to run PO
‘Not feasible’for operator to run branch
The Invergowrie Post Office, which is housed in the Premier convenience store, has been offered to the community with store manager, Mohammed Zeeshan, claiming another member of full-time salaried staff would be required to run it.
The Main Street branch has already been shrouded in uncertainty since its opening hours were cut to 10am-3pm, Monday to Friday last month, following the resignation of Invergowrie’s previous postmaster.
The move from the Post Office was slammed as “short-sighted” by Carse of Gowrie ward councillor Angus Forbes.
And now a temporary operator is currently running the branch until a permanent solution is found so the branch can remain open.
Mohammed Zeeshan said: “We have offered the post office to the community.
“We spoke to the Post Office and it’s just not feasible for us to keep it going.
“Staff-wise there isn’t enough - as much as we would like to keep it open.
“The salary demands are too high to keep, the Post Office would need to employ someone else to keep it open.
“I think it would be around £9000£10,000 a year to run it.
“And it would be open for 40-45 hours The Invergworie Post Office may soon see new owners
as week including Saturdays.
“A bit of experience is needed for it and we can train new staff.
“But for us it’s a lot of responsibilty to not get anything back for it, knowing we will be making a loss.
“We have been looking for somebody for a while and we want to keep it open for the community.
“We don’t want to let the community down.
“We are happy for them to run it and we can run the store. “I hope we can find a solution.” Local resident Pat Lawrence posted on the Invergowrie Village Facebook page, asking if nearby residents would like to take over the post office branch.
She added: “It would be a great shame if we lost this after all the time there has been a post office in Invergowrie, but this will happen if they can’t find anyone.”