A petition to stop a post office from being moved down the road has received over 500 signatures from the local community.

Residents want to keep the South Lynn Post Office at Whites Premier store, at 32 London Road, as they claim it is easier for the elderly and disabled who live nearby to access.

The Post Office is run by a temporary postmaster and the shop is being withdrawn for Post Office use.

Proposals are being made to relocate the service to 58 London Road, where the premises will undergo a refurbishment.

It will then incorporate a newsagent called C & L Newsagents and the post office, with extended opening hours and two open-plan tills.

Owner of Whites store, Pam Bisla, said: 'Residents do not want it to go.

'They feel the open plan doesn't give them any security and the elderly people who use the service are vulnerable. It's a busy road with a lot of traffic and there isn't enough parking spaces.'

Mrs Bisla said if plans go ahead she will lose customers and will have to let go a member of staff.

She added: 'We bought the shop in 2014 with the intention to buy the post office once we could afford to. They didn't offer the Post Office to me - they advertised it online. Surely they should've contacted me? Why not ask?'

Jean Tuck, who lives in Goodwins Road, said she was one of the first to sign the petition, adding: 'I am really angry, I am incensed by the whole thing.

'The shop is excellent. The long row of flats opposite are where a lot of elderly people live. They use the shop for their pension, to buy a paper or to have a chat, it has that kind of atmosphere. A lot of them can't walk down to the bottom of the road.'

A Post Office spokesman said there is a risk a branch could close at short notice if it is run by a temporary postmaster.

She said: 'We are not moving the post office for the sake of moving it, we are looking at a long term, permanent solution. We offered the branch the opportunity to take up the post office but they declined. We have advertised the post office in the right way and followed correct procedure.'

The Post Office is inviting customers to give their comments in a six-week public consultation which ends on April 12. Email comments@postoffice.co.uk, or call 03457 223344