A west Cumbrian town has lost its Post Office after a supermarket giant made the decision to close the convenience store from which it was run.

Morrisons announced the closure of 132 McColl's stores across the UK – including the Egremont branch, which is also a Post Office.

The decision has been described by one community leader as “taking the financial heart out of Egremont”.

The Post Office closed for good yesterday (January 5) and the McColl’s store is due to close on Sunday.

Elaine Woodburn, chair of Egremont Town Council, said: “There’s been no consultation of what the impact would be.

“If they [Morrisons] had done that and given us the opportunity to respond, it would have been highlighted that the closure of Egremont Post Office is totally unacceptable.

“We met with the MP and a Post Office representative at the end of last year. We have had no further talks.

“We know how important the Post Office is. We are looking at a town that lost all of its banks. The Post Office took on a lot of the services by the banks.

“It was costing the Post Office to provide that service but we’ve got a town with quite a high elderly population who aren’t IT savvy and relied on the Post Office.

“Morrisons have not even considered the local community, just taken a decision completely on financial reasons and nothing else.

“It’s made a decision that has taken the financial heart out of Egremont, that a lot of people relied on

“We will carry on fighting and we can only hope that an alternative can be found.”

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We very much regret the closure of some McColl's stores, but a number of them have been loss-making for some time and there are 132 stores where there is no realistic prospect of achieving a breakeven position in the medium term.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “Morrisons has taken the difficult decision to close some McColl’s stores that hosted Post Offices, due to the unprofitability of the retail in that store, not helped by the difficult high street conditions facing retailers. 

“Morrisons kept Egremont Post Office open throughout the Christmas period and it was closed on January 5 at 5.30pm. The nearest alternative branches are Thornhill and Cleator Moor.

 “We know how important a Post Office is to this community and we are working hard to restore service as soon as possible. We have had some discussions with retailers. The vacancy is advertised on our website.”

READ MORE: Morrisons set to close 132 McColl's stores