Before I was elected to Parliament in 2010 I ran a major two-year campaign against the last Labour Government’s post office closure programme which saw over a third of branches in the UK close. These rural post offices and village shops were real hubs of the community, leaving residents more isolated when they disappeared.

Since becoming an MP, supporting our local post offices has been one of my top priorities. I have battled with Royal Mail over the removal of local sorting offices, jointly hosted a local forum (believed to be a UK first) for local sub-postmasters to exchange ideas and best practice, and in 2019 I spoke out in the House of Commons when Barclays was refusing to let their customers withdraw money at local post offices. The following day Barclays reversed their decision.

I have also challenged our high street banks to do more to inform their customers that 99% of personal customers and 95% of business customers can carry out their day-to-day banking needs at a post office and that people do not necessarily have to bank online if that does not work for them.

In Central Devon post office branch numbers have held steady at around 50 for the past 12 years. We have the third most branches of the 650 constituencies in the UK – a testament to government investment in our rural post office network, the hard work of our postmasters, and to the volunteers who generously give up their time to man the counter at community-run post offices and shops.

In September, Moretonhampstead Post Office will reopen after a closure of nearly three years – an important day for the town and one which will no doubt be a boost to local businesses.

More from Mel at www.melstridemp.com or on twitter @MelJStride.