Post Office services in Callander are set to face disruption over the next few months as they move to a new site in the town.
The current branch, based in Station Road, is set to close on January 29 at 5pm – with the Post Office explaining the current service has been run by a “temporary agent” who are no longer able to provide a service at the business.
A new Post Office will now be set up in Callander at firewood business Feeds and Stoves under a new postmaster.
That service will be available from March 18 at 1pm and opening hours will run from Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-4pm.
In the gap between the end of the current operation and the new service being set up, a mobile Post Office will visit Callander at Station Road every Friday, beginning on February 7 to March 14.
It will be in place at the current site from 9am to 11am on a weekly basis.
The temporary service has led to concerns locally about access to vital services, with Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl writing to Post Office chiefs calling for the temporary service to be available on more days.
In his submission, Cllr Earl said people from across a “wide rural hinterland” made use of the Callander service and may not be able to meet the two-hour time once a week.
Speaking to the Observer, the Conservative councillor added: “First of all there is a huge ‘thank you’ due to all those involved in running the closing branch for providing such a great service for so many years and I’m sure everyone wishes those at the new branch all the very best.
“It is so important to have a Post Office in Callander as the town serves such a large area and bank branches are being lost.
“The Post Office have sought and succeeded in securing another location but I am concerned that the temporary service being proposed between closing and new branch opening will not be adequate and I would ask the Post Office to increase opening times and days it is available.”
Kippen’s postmaster will take control of the temporary Callander service and to accommodate the extra visit, there will be changes to the mobile service’s existing timetable in Buchlyvie and Gargunnock.
Those changes see the current Friday visit in Gargunnock removed, with only two stops on Mondays and Thursdays and the same is also true in Kippen, with the Friday service removed – leaving only a single visit on a Monday.
The Post Office said it was “keen” to re-open a full-time service in the town as soon as possible and so decided to move forward with the plans, with a consultation on levels of access into and within the premises closing on March 18.
Customers can share their views during the consultation online at postofficeviews.co.uk with the branch code 153868.
Submissions can also be made via email to [email protected],or by telephone 03452 66 0115 or Textphone 03457 223355.