A PARLIAMENTARY petition on Friday (November 6) calling for the urgent reopening of a city-centre Post Office branch is to be launched on Friday morning.

Jayne Kirhkam, Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth, plans to make the petition available in several locations across Truro, including in her constituency office. Members of her team will also be visiting local businesses on Monday morning (November 9) to collect signatures from the retail community.

The city centre branch of the Post Office closed on Tuesday, October 6, ahead of the weekend closure of its host store TG Jones. Customers have since been directed to branches on the Trelander residential estate and Shortlanesend, both of which are based in convenience stores and do not offer a full complement of services.

However, the current landlord of the former TG Jones building in Truro city centre, which hosted the Post Office until October 6, says he could “open the door tomorrow” if the Post Office wanted to return to its position at the rear of the store in the short- and potentially long-term.

Richard Starr said he had spoken to the Post Office both through a potential operator and directly. “I made the point: why is it closed? Let’s keep it open,” he said. “I’m willing to look at how we can make that work.”

Mr Starr has proposed creating a new frontage opening out onto The Leats, rather than having all customers accessing the property from Pydar Street. He also claimed the Post Office had yet to remove all its possessions from the premises.

“They are looking at other places, but this one is perfectly viable – why not focus on doing something with someone who is willing and able to do it now?” he added.

Ms Kirkham said: “I have heard from the landlord of the current site, who has offered a temporary set-up whilst the Post Office finds a more permanent home. I have raised this offer with the Post Office.”

She added: “The Post Office is a vital part of Truro’s high street and community and provides essential in-person services. That is why I will launch a Parliamentary Petition declaring that Truro city centre needs a Post Office.”

Several of Cornwall’s Post Office branches are set to close following parent company Modella Capital’s decision to slim down the number of TG Jones outlets – Camborne will shut up shop on November 23 and St Austell in January.

The Post Office completed its transition towards a fully-franchised network model a year ago, meaning all UK branches are run as franchises by independent business owners (postmasters), retail partners or community groups rather than being directly owned and managed by Post Office Ltd.

Cllr Steven Webb, Truro city and Cornwall councillor for Moresk and Trehaverne, said Mr Starr’s proposal sounded : “sensible and commendable on paper, but I think the Post Office is looking for a long-term solution, and we do not know as yet what or with whom.

“We need a Post Office in the city centre, and Truro is not going to go quiet in its demands for this. However, we are not alone – not in Cornwall, or even in the UK. We need to keep the pressure on, but we also need to trust the process.”

Alun Jones, manager of Truro Business Improvement District (BID), said: “We welcome any positive gesture being made to restore the Post Office presence to the city centre. In the meantime, we are aware applications are being processed, and we have been warned that this could take up to six months.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We fully recognise the challenging trading conditions that TG Jones and many other High Street retailers are facing at the moment. TG Jones had its Restructuring Plan approved by the High Court on July 1, which includes seeking new commercial terms with landlords for the majority of their estate. Consequently, TG Jones has closed its Truro store and the Post Office, which was based inside, on Tuesday 6 October.

“We know how important our products and services are to the local community. The vacancy has already been advertised and we are reviewing applications. We will provide a further update on our plans as soon as we can. In the interim alternative branches include Trelander and Shortlanesend.”