NEGOTIATIONS are under way for a community store near Wallingford to become the new home of the village Post Office.

Brightwell Village Stores was opened five years ago by TV presenter Charlie Brooker and has won praise from Oxfordshire Rural Community Council.

Now it has been approached by the Post Office to open a branch in the shop in West End, which is open seven days a week and run with the help of volunteers.

The Post Office has told villagers running the store that it wants a Post Office Local counter to be opened at the store as it plans to close the existing branch at the Stewart Room in the village hall.

Brightwell Village Stores chairwoman Celia Collett, a parish councillor for 25 years and a former South Oxfordshire district councillor for the village, said negotiations have started with the Post Office.

She added: “We want to keep a Post Office in the village and this could be a good way for that to be achieved – negotiations are now taking place. It’s possible that footfall in the store could increase as a result of the Post Office moving here.”

Residents attended a public meeting in the village last week to discuss the proposals.

Mrs Collett added: “At the moment the store is set up like a community benefit society and you can become a member if you pay a minimum donation of £1.

“There are more than 200 members and they will vote to decide if the Post Office should move into the store or not. There are about 1,300 people living in the village and anyone could pay a pound and then have a say on this.”

The village was without a village shop for eight years before Mrs Collett led a £150,000 fundraising campaign to build the new store.

The shop is open weekdays from 8.30am to 6pm, Saturdays from 9am to 1pm and on Sundays from 9am to noon.

It is run by two part-time staff and a team of volunteers and concentrates on selling local produce.

Mrs Collett added: “The approach has come from the Post Office and the postal service is so beneficial to so many people we want to look at this and see how it could be achieved. If the Post Office does move to the store I think it would keep roughly the same hours as the shop and be run by paid staff.”

A statement on the village store’s website said: “No decisions have yet been made about the future of a Post Office in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell. The Village Stores has been offered a contract to run a Post Office Local counter within the shop.”

The Post Office confirmed that it was looking into the possibility of moving into the village shop.

Spokeswoman Sheila Tapster said: “We are not planning to close any Post Offices and customers should be assured that the Post Office is committed to maintaining services in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Warborough.”

She added that the Post Office was considering the possibility of relocating to the village store if shareholders agreed.