VILLAGERS left without a local Post Office in the run-up to Christmas fear they might never get a proper postal service.

Sabden Post Office closed on November 3. A month on, the village is still without a replacement.

Elderly villagers, many of them without private transport, say they have had to collect their pensions from branches in Higham, two miles away, and Read, two-and-a-half miles away.

But Post Office bosses say they are looking at options for a new branch in Sabden, while a local newsagent says he has approached them with a view to opening a new branch in the village.

Angela Whitwell, clerk to Sabden Parish Council, said: "We feel let down by the Post Office. They said there would be little to no gap between the old one closing and a new one opening.

"But it's already been a month and we're still without a post office. Some people are now worried Sabden will be forgotten about and we'll never have a new branch."

The previous Post Office, in Whalley Road, closed following the resignation of sub-postmaster David Scurrah who sold the business because it was no longer financially viable.

Dick Capstick, owner of The Village News, Whalley Road, said: "Nothing is official, but I am confident that we could have a new branch here some time in the New Year."

The Post Office would not discuss business options in detail, but a spokesman said: "We are committed to opening a post office in Sabden and are doing everything we can to achieve that. We are exploring all possibilities until we find a solution."