Post Office bosses are to close one of their town centres branches - and it is not known if or when it will reopen.

The Sunderland Street branch, which is housed in the same building as the Well Pharmacy, will shut its doors on October 29 following the resignation of the postmaster.

The Post Office apologised of the ‘temporary’ closure and pledged to investigate options to reopen a branch - but the firm would not say when this would happen.

The Sunderland Street Post Office branch

It means the nearest branches will be the one in WH Smith on Mill Street, London Road and Tytherington.

Councillor Janet Jackson, who represents Macclesfield Central ward on Cheshire East Council, hopes any new branch would remain in the Sunderland Street part of town.

She said: “It’s a well used Post Office providing a much needed facility for the community. The elderly in particular will suffer and will find it a struggle to climb Mill Street to get to the Post Office in WH Smith, which, from feedback I’m getting, is not best positioned within the store and has constant queues.”

A spokesman for Post Office said: “Following the resignation of the Postmaster and the withdrawal of the premises for Post Office use Sunderland Street Post Office will temporarily close at 12:30pm on Saturday, October 29.

“We know how important Post Office services are to people in Macclesfield and we apologise to customers for any inconvenience this may cause.

“We would like to assure customers that we are currently investigating the options available which will enable us to reinstate a Post Office service to the local community. In exploring this, it is important that any future service is sustainable for the person operating the service, and for Post Office.

“Future provision will reflect customer numbers and usage and we may take the opportunity to establish an alternative type of service. This may be a new style branch known as a Post Office local. Post Office locals run alongside an established local shop and create a more modern and convenient retail experience for customers in newly refurbished premises.”

The announcement comes as the Communication Workers Union announced a 24-hour strike on September 15 in response to rows with Post Office over branch privatisation, job cuts and pensions.