VOLUNTEERS are pushing the envelope by fighting to bring a Post Office back to Painswick.

There has been a lack of post service facilities in the village since March last year when the Post Office in New Street closed due to a dispute between the Royal Mail and the formerpost mistress Karen Judd.

Now there is a chance to bring a post office back to the village thanks to the Painswick Centre trustees who have agreed to the use of two stock rooms.

These rooms were agreed by Post Office representatives on the basis that the facility is run as a community based post office.

"Finding unpaid volunteers willing to handle other people's money is going to be the next big sticking point," said David Linsell, chairman of the Painswick Centre trustees.

"But this is the only way we are going to bring a post office back to the centre of the village."

According to Mr Linsell the Post Office has made it clear they are unwilling to pay a salary to a postmaster or postmistress.

A Post Office spokesman said: “We apologise for the inconvenience to customers in Painswick for the disruption to services.

“We know how important Post Office services are to people in the area and we are determined to restore our physical presence at the heart of the community.”

The trustees are due to meet with Post Office representatives on Monday to discuss the next stage in the process.

Recently villagers have also voiced their concerns about the reduced number of post boxes in Painswick since the closure of the box in Tibbiwell Lane 18 months ago and the post box in New Street last March.

For many residents their nearest post box is quite a walk away on the edge of the village, according to King's Mill Lane Resident Sue Sheperd.

A spokesman for Royal Mail has said the company aims to have posting facilities within half a mile of the majority of UK addresses and according to their database there are four boxes located within a 500 metre radius of Tibbiwell Lane.

However according to Mrs Sheperd the distance quoted by the Royal Mail is measured as the crow flies and does not take in to consideration terrain or altitude.

Stroud MP Neil Carmichael has promised his support to residents fighting to get post facilities returned to the village more than a year ago.

"There will be a Post Office in Painswick it is just a question of when," he said.