A KILWINNING resident has said more needs to be done to ensure Kilwinning Main Street doesn't go months without a Post Office facility.

Jean Bertram added that residents being made to travel to Pennyburn as their closest alternative was "unthinkable".

She says she cannot understand why more has not been done in an effort to find a much quicker solution.

The Post Office on the street is due to shut as the McColl's store in Main Street, which houses the facility at present, is one of 132 stores across the UK that is to be closed under the plans unveiled by Morrisons, which bought its rival for £190m in a rescue deal in May.

It is understood that the facility is due to close in mid-January of next year, though the Post Office are already looking for applicants for a new franchise in the town.

They say they are looking for applications from the Main Street area with a closing date for these set for May 2023.

This could leave the Main Street without a Post Office counter for upwards of five months - assuming a suitable applicant is found.

The nearest alternative Post Office facility is located on Sundrum Place in Pennyburn.

This is something Jean said is simply not good enough, particularly for the elderly in the town and local businesses who use their banking facilities.

The Main Street has also lost two banks in recent years  - the Clydesdale Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.

A concerned Jean said: "Most of the elderly round about the Main Street can walk to it. To get them to take a bus to Pennyburn is really unthinkable.

"My concern is not just for the elderly but for everybody. There is at least 20 businesses on that street that use the Post Office as a bank because we don't have a bank building in the street.

"People say 'just go online' - a lot of people dont bank online, a lot of people just want the money, they want to go into the Post Office and get their pension.

"I know how important it is to the community. I really don't understand why no one is doing anything about it."

While Jean also shared concern for the "amazing" staff at the Post Office inside McColl's - with around five staff due to lose their job, alongside a further four who work in the main shop.

She said: "The girls in that Post Office are absolutely amazing, you couldn't get better service.

"There is no way that what they do can be crushed in to a Post Office in Pennyburn."

Councillor for Kilwinning, Scott Davidson, shared their concern. He says he hopes a solution is found as soon as feasibly possible.

He commented: "Like everyone in our town I am also most disappointed to find ourselves in this situation, following the decision by Morrisons to close the Kilwinning branch of McColl's, leaving us with no Post Office facility on the Main Street.

"Following the closure of The Clydesdale Bank and more recently the Royal Bank of Scotland, this further limits banking facilities as well as the range of other services provided by the Post Office.

"Hopefully this situation will be addressed appropriately by the Post Office, but in the meantime for banking facilities I’d advise Kilwinning residents to make contact with First Alliance Community Bank and OneBanx (located in the Co-Op) to see what banking services they can assist with that may help."