DANBY residents are to lose a vital village lifeline; their long established post office and the only shop for two miles, is to close tomorrow.
The post office is part of a typical village store which includes a small general shop and a newsagents.
But a spokesman for Post Office Services said that "an expression of interest" has been made in taking it over although it is not known if th
e general store part of the business will be included.
There has been a post office in the village for around 70 years although it was not always on its present Briar Hill site – at one time it was located on Bridge Green.
For the past 11 years it has been run by a husband and wife team who have now resigned from the post.
Older residents believe the village's first sub postmaster was Harry Clemmitt in 1932 and in more recent times John Gedge held the post for 46 years.
From tomorrow the nearest post office will be in Castleton. Danby mail, presently sorted in the Briar Hill office, will then be dealt with at the Castleton office and distributed from there.
With only minimal public transport between the two villages, the loss of Danby's has caused some dismay among residents.
Frank Farrow (84) who has lived in the village since he was a young boy, said: "It's a complete disaster for everything – fishing tickets for the rivers, banking and so on. It's just a mess."
The post office is one of five to be threatened with closure in the Whitby area following a re-organisation of postal services.
But Danby's is not part of the re-organisation and will continue if someone comes forward to take it on.
The full article contains 296 words and appears in Whitby Gazette Tuesday newspaper.
