A SUB-POSTMISTRESS has applied to take over West Linton’s post office but does not have £18,000 for the internal fit out, a meeting has been told.

Susan Meikle, who has managed Innerleithen’s sub-post office for six years, said that the Post Office Ltd is currently stripping the shop, which closed last Friday when Gillian and Calum Greenhow retired.

For the sub-post office to be reinstated, Ms Meikle has to show that she has the £18,000 required to modernise the property.

Ms Meikle said that when she took over Innerleithen’s sub-post office the money was put up by the Post Office, but that was no longer the case.

Members of West Linton Community Council (WLCC) said that villagers might donate to an online crowdfunding page to secure the future of the post office.

Ms Meikle, a former chair of Innerleithen and District Community Council, said: “I have Post Office clearance, police disclosure and six years’ experience but I do not have the £18,000.

“I have family connections to West Linton and already run a pop-up allotment shop in the village on Fridays.

“If West Linton loses its post office it will rip the heart out of the village, it is a facility that a lot of people use.

“I have done this twice before because I moved the sub-post office from one end of Innerleithen to the other, but it takes about seven to eight months to get up and running.”

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale MP David Mundell said: “I have met with Post Office senior managers to emphasise the need for them to take all steps possible, including, in my view, providing financial support if necessary to allow this application to be successfully lodged and approved. 

“West Linton residents cannot be left without the full postal service they have had access to until now and I will continue to provide whatever assistance I can in helping ensure this is the case.”

At the meeting Ms Meikle added: “I cannot complete the application because I do not have evidence of how I am going to fund the refit.”

A temporary fix is in place and WLCC chairman Mark McDavid said: “There will be a post office van shop on Wednesday mornings from this week.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are delighted that an experienced postmistress is keen to take on West Linton post office. 

“We recognise that post offices are community assets and there have been other parts of the country where local communities have come together to support the opening of a branch.”