A sub-postmaster has warned villagers to “use it or lose it” as he worries over the future of his branch.
The family-run Dersingham Post Office has had Fraser Lindsay and wife Maria at the helm since 2002.
Last year, they were left shocked by a six-month notice period to withdraw a collection of mailworkers - with their postman leaving in September.
Mr Lindsay therefore lost around half of his income on the spot - and now, he is concerned that a drop in footfall at the Post Office Road branch could lead to him closing altogether.
He believes a number of factors have contributed to this decrease - including the Horizon scandal and people being incentivised to use online services.
“What we are trying to do now is just carry on as long as we can, but we need the public more than ever before,” Mr Lindsay said.
“But it is not just this post office - it is every post office in the land.
“I think we are fighting a losing battle, but we have got to keep going for as long as we can.”
Mr Lindsay’s parents ran the Dersingham business from 1979 and made a family transfer to their son in 2001.
He has been in touch with North West Norfolk MP James Wild throughout the past year in a bid to help his cause.
Among the reasons Mr Lindsay believes footfall has dropped at his branch is the Horizon scandal, which has seen the Post Office prosecute thousands of innocent sub-postmasters for shortfalls in their accounts which had actually been caused by software issues.
“What we don’t want is people avoiding going into post offices as it is not the fault of the postmasters,” he said.
He also stressed the help his branch can offer Dersingham residents that they may struggle to find elsewhere - such as with cash amid a number of bank closures hitting the area.
He also says help with things like car tax can be offered - but people need to use the services to help keep the business afloat.
“A lot of people don’t realise that we get paid for what we do, so if we don’t do anything we don’t get paid,” Mr Lindsay said.
“People think we get paid for just sitting there - that is a myth.”
He added: “We have used this slogan for years: ‘Use it or lose it.’
“I just think the whole mentality it to shut everything down and make people do it online.
“People have to use it, because they will be moaning and groaning like anything when we are gone.
“We have been here for a long time. People use our advice on all sorts of things - it is the village way of life.”
A Post Office spokesperson told the Lynn News that the number of people visiting branches “remains high” as residents rely on their local branch for services such as home shopping returns, personal and business banking and cash withdrawals, travel money and bill payments.
They said: “This is a challenging economic climate for many retailers and we’re sorry to hear the experience our postmaster for Dersingham is having. Our focus has and continues to be on driving footfall to our branches.
“We fully recognise that a lot of our customers do also purchase our products and services online and that in large part is because of the role postmasters play in building our brand and we have been able to share one off remuneration payments to postmasters in recognition of this.
“Postmasters want to run Post Offices for their village, high street or community, but they are dependent upon customer footfall. Our area managers work with postmasters to find ways for a retailer to boost business or to suggest ways to make efficiency savings.
“Dersingham is a full-time branch, surrounded by many part-time outreach branches, so people from further afield know that this branch has convenient opening hours.
“With recent bank branch closures Dersingham is a handy place to make cash and cheque deposits on behalf of all the major high street banks, get bank balances and to make withdrawals.”