Councillors have again stressed the crucial importance of Haworth retaining its own post office amidst fears the future of the facility is in jeopardy.

Commenting at the latest full meeting of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council on Monday night, Coun Nikki Carroll explained Post Office Ltd now wants its outlets to share the premises of existing retail businesses.

She said this means the post office in Main Street will need to find a new home, but a shop on this same street that had previously expressed an interest in hosting postal services has since pulled out.

“Any shop that takes this post office on would need to have disabled access, which rules out a lot of properties in Main Street,” she warned.

Coun Carroll said she would like to see Post Office Ltd take another look at using the Main Street-based district council-run Visitor Information Centre, which is not far from the current post office.

“We’re at risk of losing something that is a community hub for the village,” she said. “The footfall in that post office is about 500 week, and we can’t afford to lose it. We need to fight to keep it going and need to look at all the options available to us.”