The fight is on to protect La Poste services in Villefranche-du-Périgord

THE fight is on to save the La Poste office in Villefranche-du-Périgord after notice was given that its opening hours will be reduced.

Bosses at La Poste have said that the office will close on Monday afternoon, it was already closed in the morning, but local mayors and villagers are opposed to the closure notice.

La Poste say the number of customers has declined, forcing the reduction in hours, but it is feared that like other villages in the Dordogne, the decision will see a slow strangulation of the service until it is ultimately closed.

Villefranche-du-Périgord mayor, Claude Brondel, said that local funds are given to La Poste to provide services and that they are obliged to provide postal deliveries six days our of seven.

He said that La Poste also has to ensure banking options are available to local inhabitants and warned that if La Poste decide to close the office it will be increasingly difficult to attract people to live and work in the area.

Already the gendarmerie service has been scaled back, while a primary school in nearby Saint-Cernin-de-l'Herm closed its doors for the last time in the summer.

Claude Brondel warned that as public services disappear all that will be left behind is a deserted region.

The reduced opening hours for the La Poste office are set to begin early next year, but a petition was launched to show the volume of support to ensure a full service is available in the area.