An Oxford MP has called the closure of a Post Office branch in Oxford a “huge loss” for the community.

On Friday (September 16) the Co-op store in Banbury Road, Summertown is set to close down.

The store is home to the area’s Post Office branch, which will also close when the shop does, leaving residents without a nearby place to post letters and parcels.

READ MORE: Oxford’s Co-op store to close down this Friday

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran said: "Post Offices are a lifeline for local communities, especially for elderly or vulnerable people who can’t travel to the city centre to access services.

"If the Post Office in Summertown closes for good, it will be a huge loss for the community. But we have saved this branch from closure once before and we are hoping to do it again.

"Local businesses can come forward and apply to run the branch, and I would encourage any who are interested to contact the Post Office."

Earlier in the week, a spokesperson for Midcounties Co-operative said: “The Midcounties Co-operative regularly reviews its property footprint to ensure that it is providing the best opportunity to deliver for its members and continue to support the communities in which it operates.

“As a result of this process, the Summertown store was identified as not fitting with the long-term strategy of the Society and the Midcounties Board has therefore made the difficult decision to close the store from Friday 16th September.

“We’d like to thank all our customers and members for shopping at the store over the years and look forward to welcoming them at one of our other Your Co-op stores in Oxford, which include our Marston, Walton Street and Little Clarendon stores nearby.

“Midcounties members will continue to be able to access their member benefits in local Your Co-op stores, online and at all times through the Your Co-op Members app.

“Midcounties is continuing to invest in its food retail business, recently announcing plans to open eight new Your Co-op Food stores in 2022, with a total investment of around £4 million.

“This follows the Society opening seven new food stores in 2021.”

-

Read more from this author

This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.