A YEAR since more than 20 sub post offices across Oxfordshire were forced to close, the shops that once housed them are being forced to adapt and diversify just to stay in business.

In June 2008, the first of 22 branches in Oxfordshire shut their doors for good. Now, 198 post offices — including outreach centres — remain open.

Twelve months on, some shopkeepers have used new-found space to diversify, while others are struggling to deal with reduced trade.

Debbie Cummins, the manager of One Stop in Wootton Road, Abingdon, said: “We still get people coming in who say ‘I thought you had a post office?’, but it’s been gone since October, so it shows how much they used it.

“It hasn’t really affected business. We’ve now got extra space for merchandise.”

Karen Smith, the owner of Ardington Stores near Wantage, said: “It has obviously had an effect because we don’t see as many people in the store, but we are still here and we’ve introduced an ATM so people can still have the option of cash withdrawal.”

Brenda Horwood used Grandpont Post Office, Oxford, from 1928 until the day it closed.

Now aged 87, the Marlborough Road resident said she was surprised at how well she and her neighbours had coped without the facility.

She said: “I more or less cannot walk as far as the shop now, so my sister-in-law does all my business for me.

“She gets my money and things from the shop, so it’s just one of those things.”

The former Grandpont postmaster Dharmaraj Prasad said: “People are definitely disappointed by the loss of the post office and this has affected us very badly.

“Business is not the same as before and we cannot offer the services to the elderly and disabled people who cannot walk to the main post office in the city centre.”

Sue Reynolds, chairman of the committee of Iffley Community Shop, said the not-for-profit shop had expanded into space previously occupied by the post office and had added a touch-screen computer, which helped customers put the correct amount of stamps on parcels.

She said: “We fought really hard to stop the closure programme, but that didn’t work in the end.

“It became rather difficult to move on just for a short time, then we realised we had to do something so we devised a programme where you can drop off parcels in a secure box and weigh them on the scales to find out how many stamps you need.

“It’s a touch-screen operation, which is simplicity itself.

“You have some very simple choices to make on the screen and it then tells you how much to stick on the front.

“We had to use our reserves to pay for all of this, in accordance with the wishes of the village, but we have now got new postal services, which are quite comprehensive, but very simple.

“One way or another we have moved on and improved our services.

“We are not in the business of trying to increase profits, we provide a service for the community, but we have tidied up the shop and we now have a better range of products which means people don’t have to go into the supermarkets.

“Because of these postal services the sale of stamps has actually increased quite dramatically.

“We are holding our own and I think the shop is a better shop even though we all still want a post office.”

Mollie and Dennis Ingrey, of Stanton St John Stores had to pay a £2,500 waiver to Post Office Ltd to install an ATM and PayPoint machine, below, within a year of the closure of their branch, but said it had been worth it.

Mrs Ingrey said: “Business has kept up fairly well. A lot of customers that needed the post office services are still coming in and the county council put up a sign pointing to where we are, so we have probably picked up a bit of passing trade.

“Like all shops, it’s not the best of times, but we are running fairly well and the local people around here still desperately want this convenience store.

“We had plans to open a full delicatessen, which we still want to do, but that hasn’t happened yet because it will cost money to install a deli counter.

“We still see that as one of the things we want to do and we have already introduced a selection of new items.

“We have also painted the outside of the shop and I think people appreciate it looking nice.

“We miss the Post Office wages, we haven’t got that guarantee of income any more, but it’s ticking over.”

Some shops are less able to adapt to changing circumstances.

Bob Perkin, who has owned Begbroke Stores, near Kidlington, for eight years, said his ability to diversify was hampered by a lack of space.

Mr Perkin said: “Physically we are stuck in a 15ft-by-20ft shop — that limits us. We’ve changed our suppliers and brought in hot drinks, but we can’t do a lot in such a small space.

“Recently we had eight customers who mistakenly came in for the post office.

“That’s eight people who haven’t used it in the last 12 months and that’s what it has been like throughout that time.

“Business is quiet. We rely on builders for much of our early morning trade and the credit crunch has made more of an impact than losing the post office.

“We have had to put funds into the business and we are having to do that again — we cannot go on like that a great deal longer.”