The post office has operated inside the WH Smith branch in Finchley Road

THE future of the Swiss Cottage post office is on the line after WHSmith said it is closing the site in April.

The struggling stationer is shutting down its high street stores, which include the branch with the franchised Post Office on Finchley Road.

Tesh Rao, who lives nearby, said losing the post office would be a “huge loss to the area”, and particularly difficult for older people who rely on its everyday services, adding: “A lot of elderly people use it to pay their bills as well and also for basic things like posting and buying stamps.

There are also basically no banks on the high street any more, and limited ATMs so you can at least get money out from a post office.

“Barclays, Halifax and NatWest have all gone and the post office is the only place older people can do transactions.

“I’ve lived in the Swiss Cottage area for a long time. When I first arrived the Finchley Road area was buzzing. So many places are closing down now it’s just becoming a ghost town, it is not citizen-friendly.

Hubert Clarke who has lived in Lymington Road for 27 years said: “When all the banks on Finchley Road disappeared we couldn’t get money out anywhere because they were all gone, we were doing that all through the post office.

“It’s one of the only places where you can actually get money out. Finchley Road has changed an awful lot. I remember when the big Woolworths super store was down there and the area was full of shoppers and people.

“Now the road is full of derelict shops because all the people are gone. No one is doing business there now. “The closure will affect old people big time. The nearest place to us will be Kilburn or West Hampstead, and for older people like myself it’s too far.”

The change comes hard on the heels of the New Journal’s report on the possibility that the post office in Hampstead High Street may soon close.

Labour ward councillors in South Hampstead were unavailable this week but Councillor Steve Adams, leader of the Camden Conservatives, said: “I think the worst thing about this situation is the public haven’t been told.

I think it would have been responsible of WHSmith who are a very large business and have been for a long time, to have spoken to people in the local area and told people what they were intending to do as the post office is incredibly vital to the community.

“Large companies owe a debt to their customers.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “The operator for Swiss Cottage Post Office has resigned as WHSmith has made the difficult decision to close the store where the branch is based. The date has not yet been finalised, but it is likely to be around April 12.

“The vacancy has been advertised and we have interest expressed from many retailers and we are looking at the options available as we know how important a post office is to a community.”

A WHSmith spokesperson said: ““We can confirm that the WHSmith store in South Hampstead will be closing in April. It is no longer sustainable to continue to trade from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry.

“We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible.”