A Staffordshire post office will move to a supermarket across town despite a campaign by residents who will be left without a service at all for three days.

The post office in Market Street Hednesford will close on February 1.

It will move to the Co-op on February 4 with a gap in services for three days to allow for the move. The reason given by the national Post Office is that this will enable auditing and stock transfer, but Staffordshire County councillor Sue Woodward says this is not good enough.

She said: “The campaign to oppose the transfer was supported by many local residents and by the local councils, because it comes at such a critical time for the town’s redevelopment.

“Unfortunately, the Post Office did not listen and, as many suspected, the result of the consultation was a foregone conclusion.

“In fact, people felt annoyed that work was going on to set up the new office even before the consultation finished.

“Now this gap in services just adds insult to injury.

“For a huge national organisation like the Post Office, there is simply no excuse for a gap of several days causing people to have to travel elsewhere.

“It’s about time that the Post Office management listened to those who pay their wages – their customers and the tax-payers.”

Councillor Allan Pearson, the chairman of Hednesford Town Council, said: “Any gap in normal service like this, or the one recently at Hazel Slade, causes real nuisance and concern to local residents and businesses, particularly the elderly.

“The Town Council was very disappointed that our views were not listened to during the consultation and I just hope that the relocation won’t cause the problems that we feared.

“Of course we want to keep a post office here in Hednesford for a very long time to come but we also want the town centre as a whole to thrive.

“I hope that local residents will continue to support their local businesses and that we will see a prosperous and flourishing town centre in the near future.”