POST Office bosses have apologised after a broken computer left a rural branch unable to dish out pensions to elderly villagers.

Kirsten Heys, who runs Mellor Post Office, has had to turn away dozens of pensioners since the computer went down on Friday.

Since then people have had to travel to Mellor Brook or into Blackburn to use the Post Office.

The village branch, in Church Lane, usually serves people from Mellor and as far afield as Lammack, Shear Brow, Osbaldeston and Balderstone.

Pensioners and benefits claimants ordinarily use a debit card to withdraw money from the Post Office. But with Mellor's technical difficulties, people have had to travel to other branches.

As well as forcing pensioners to travel elsewhere, the computer failure has also left the post master out of pocket.

Royal Mail bosses today apologised for the inconvenience and said a team of engineers was tackling the problem.

Kirsten, 36, who has run the village branch for four years, said: "The computer first went down more than a week ago and it's still broken. It's had a serious effect on my takings because, now people know they can't get their pensions or benefits from here, they are going elsewhere. I'm also a newsagent and a grocer and it is having a damaging effect on these sides of the business.

"Also, my salary is paid according to the number of post office transactions I complete so my earnings are going to be down this month.

"In one respect the technology of debit cards has improved matters because, with the old book system, they had to use their own branch.

"Now they can go elsewhere and use their card, but the old system didn't fail in the first place. The nearest other branch is in Mellor Brook but that is down a long, steep hill and I can't imagine 80-year-olds using that.

"It's been down far too long and I need answers."

One such octogenarian is former Ribble Valley mayor and Mellor councillor Charles Warkman.

He said: "When the old book system was scrapped I foresaw this kind of problem. I cannot understand why it takes 10 days to mend a broken computer.

"The old manual system may have been slow but at least you could always draw your pension."

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: "We are sorry for any inconvenience. The problem is still not resolved but engineers are working on it.

"The branch can still offer a limited service but people requiring the full service are advised to travel to branches in Blackburn."