A TOP Post Office official is to visit Kendal to examine the proposed switch of facilities to the town's WH Smith store.

Plans to close the general post office on Stricklandgate and move the counter service to within the nearby stationery store have sparked a storm of protest and Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who has led the campaign against the proposal, said Post Office Senior Stakeholder Manager Richard Hall had now confirmed he will come to the town to assess the situation.

"I have made it very, very clear that we feel we have a very strong case and his response was to say that he wanted to look directly at the situation," said Mr Farron.

The Post Office announced in September that Kendal's main post office was one of 40 earmarked to be closed with staff and services relocated to WH Smith stores in the same locality.

The news led to a wave of opposition and a campaign was launched by Mr Farron,who drew up a petition which has now been signed by more than 3,000 people.

There are a number of concerns, particularly over whether the WH Smith store has enough capacity to handle the relocation and also on the level of disabled access which would be possible under the new arrangement.

Mr Farron added that he was also concerned that the facility would be downgraded from a Crown post office to a general post office, one of the fundamental differences would be the reclassification of those working there from Post Office employees to WH Smith employees.

"With the current climate on the high street, that is an area of concern for all involved," said Mr Farron.

A Post Office spokesperson acknowledged that local communities would have concerns about the proposal and confirmed a six week public consultation period would shortly take place.

"At that stage there will be very detailed plans about how the Post Office branch will be incorporated into the store," said the spokesperson.

"We take a great deal of care in ensuring accessibility for all our customers. Those Post Office branches that are on the first floor, or basement floor of WH Smith stores, will also have facilities for ground floor service if needed.

“We also take the utmost care supporting our staff and we are talking with them about the changes and their potential options.”

The nationwide programme to transfer high street post offices to within WH Smith stores has been going on for some time and reactions have been mixed.

In Burnley, Lancashire, many residents have greeted the new arrangement warmly and have said the warm, airy shop contrasts favourably with the draughty former post office.

However in Lancaster, complaints over access have surfaced due to the facility being located on the first floor of the store, and in Chorley, there have been complaints that the store is too small and narrow.

"The Post Office queues are stretching into the shop and those queuing are getting in the way of shoppers looking for cards and books, and vice versa," said one user.