Residents have stepped forward with a raft of ideas on how to save their village shop and post office from permanent closure.

Villagers in Caldbeck, near Wigton, gathered to put forward a number of options to help retain the vital services.

The Cumberland News revealed last month that the Kirkland Store, which includes the post office, is set to close.

The news has caused widespread concern with residents fearing they could be left without both those services.

Therefore, parish council chairman Norman Atkinson and Malcolm Riches, the associate minister of St Kentigern’s Church, decided to organise a special public meeting to gather ideas.

The topic has proved to be an important one for those who live in the village as the meeting attracted around 150 people.

It comes as residents in Hallbankgate, near Brampton, are awaiting final confirmation of the transfer of their now-closed village shop to a community group.

Letters to the council indicate that the post office in Caldbeck is due to shut sometime next month, however, the exact date has not yet been disclosed.

The current owners, Martyn and Gillian Barnes, had previously told the parish council that the shop is profitable and they are only looking to sell the business after “months of soul searching”.

Opening the meeting, Mr Atkinson thanked Mr and Mrs Barnes for their time running the shop.

“This is their own personal and commercial decision and in my perspective we should respect that. I would like to thank them for the last 14 years of service,” he said.

During the gathering it emerged that Ian Loftus, from the Oddfellows Arms pub has expressed an interest in housing some post office services in the bar, and has been in discussions with the organisation.

Operating a shop from the current premises does not appear to be an option unless a buyer is found and it is no longer being actively marketed.

A number of community-run and commercially-led possibilities are being considered, among them are:

  • As well as running a post office, Mr Loftus believes he might have space available elsewhere in the pub to accommodate shop space
  • The creation of a commercial shop at the Watermill Cafe, in Priest’s Mill, in existing but unused space
  • Converting space in the Methodist church into a shop and post office with church officials helping to run it
  • Forming a co- operative, similar to the one setup in nearby Hesket Newmarket, to launch a new community-run shop

The Rev Phil Jackson, Methodist minister for the Wigton area, said: “When any one of these [shops] shuts the impact on the community cannot be understated.

“When we heard that the shop here was closing, the church council felt that one thing the church has is space and this could be offered for both a post office and shop if appropriate.”

Near the end of the meeting residents in attendance voted overwhelmingly to form a steering group to help weigh up the different options, and present them back to the community at a later date.

There was also an indication from the meeting that villagers at this stage favoured a commercial approach.

In Hallbankgate, a residents’ group is eagerly awaiting the process to give them formal ownership of their village shop.

Leaders of the group had hoped that it would be completed last Friday but, while the final approval has not yet been given, they believe it is imminent.

Their shop was closed in June by the previous owners Scotmid Cooperative after the firm revealed it had a low turnover.

It was being sold as a going concern until April but the residents’ group, known as the Hallbankgate Hub, negotiated with Scotmid to keep the store open for a further two months.

They have raised £70,000 through a community share offer and were successful in getting a match-funded Power to Change grant from the Big Lottery Fund.