THE LOCAL post office in a village in the Caerphilly county borough is set to close for good on Thursday in a blow to local residents. 

In what has been described by the Post Office as an "unplanned closure", the decision has been made following the resignation of the current postmaster. 

The branch, which operates out of a Nisa Local store on Hengoed Avenue in Cefn Hengoed, is now closing at 8.45pm on Thursday, April 11.

Through an official statement sent out to customers on Tuesday, April 9, the Post Office apologised for late notice of the closure. 

They continued: "[We] would like to assure you that we are working hard to keep any period of closure to a minimum and we are currently investigating the options available which will enable us to reinstate a Post Office service to the local community.

"In exploring this, it is important that any future service is sustainable for the person operating the service, and for Post Office Limited."

It was also confirmed that an applicant has already registered interest in restoring the service, with the team hoping to be able to confirm their "finalized plans in the near future". 

The statement concluded: "We apologise for the inconvenience the closure may cause. We hope that our customers will continue to use Post Office services and details of alternative Post Office branches in the area are shown at the end of this letter.

"The latest available branch information can be found on our website, www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder."

Customers are advised to write to the Post Office via the National Consultation Team by emailing comments@postoffice.co.uk if they have any concerns. 

The nearest Post Office branch once this closure has taken place will be Hengoed Post Office at 4 Kings Hill, which is open Monday to Friday 9am-4pm, Saturday Saturday 9am-1pm and Sunday 9am-1pm and 4pm-8pm.

This branch offers all the same services currently available at the Cefn Hengoed branch and has parking available outside.