It has taken more than 18 months, but yesterday the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Cloughton, near Scarborough, began providing another type of "service" to local people.

In May last year the village lost its post office after its sub-postmaster Dennis Nuttall resigned and the premises on High Street were no longer available.

But now the post office is back in business in St Mary's Church and its Vicar, Liz Kitching, was among the first customers yesterday when it opened on a part-time basis in the former choir vestry.

She said: "I'm delighted to see the post office open again in Cloughton, and pleased that we at St Mary's were able to help with this.

"It has taken 19 months from the first approach from the Parish Council to this opening, with the help of lots of good will, prayer, hard work, and paperwork from lots of people.

"When we were asked if St Mary's could host the post office we said 'yes' immediately because the village had been so helpful and generous in helping us to raise the money we needed to make the church child-friendly and accessible for people with disabilities. Hosting the post office is something the church can do to help our community in return."

Initially Miss Kitching was approached by Burniston and Cloughton Parish Council to see if the church might be able to help before the previous post office closed.

"Obviously we knew it was going to close and wanted to have something in place before it did," she said.

Despite the willingness of the church to help, it was not that easy. A faculty – a licence from the Diocesan Consistory Court - was needed before a telephone line and electric power points could be installed and other work could be carried out. Miss Kitching added: "The procedure has taken a lot longer than we had anticipated for a variety of reasons.

"It has been quite time consuming. I wish I had kept a log of how many phone calls I have had to make to various branches of the post office. There have been three different field advisers, but the post office and ourselves are very excited now that it is here."

Villagers helped to raise £52,000 to build a ramp and toilet at the church and they have improved disabled access not just for users of the post office, but also for church services and Mothers' Union meetings. Miss Kitching said: "The ramp is very welcome. Two of our ladies who had not been able to get to church are now able to come."

The sub-postmaster of South Cliff Post Office in Scarborough, Julie Warren, has been appointed to provide post office services twice a week from the church, which is only about 250 yards away from the previous branch.

The Post Office's Field Change Adviser, Angela Bettison, said: "We apologise for the inconvenience this temporary closure has undoubtedly caused, but I am absolutely delighted that we have been able to re-establish a post office service in Cloughton."

On the first morning St Mary's was proving the service the post office only had three customers, including the vicar. She said: "It is obviously very convenient for me. It has taken a long time coming. Now we have got it we would like it to stay and that will depend on how much people use it."

York Diocese Communications Officer Eleanor Course said she understood St Mary's was the first church in the York Diocese to host a post office but she hoped it was not the last. "It would be great to see this happening elsewhere. We would hope that other people will be inspired by what has happened at St Mary's."


SETTLEMENT WITH SENSE OF HISTORY

Cloughton, which is four miles north of Scarborough on the A171 Whitby road was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Like the Post Office, other services in the village have also dwindled away. Children attend Lindhead School in Burniston. The Scarborough to Whitby railway line was closed by Dr Beeching in 1965 and the garage closed more than 10 years ago when it could no longer serve fuel in imperial measures.

The Post Office at St Mary's will be open from 10am to 1.30pm on Tuesdays and noon to 3.30pm on Thursdays.