The Post Office in East Kilbride will remain closed it has been announced after a new operator couldn't be found.
It shut its doors last January after RS RS McColl's in St Leonards shopping centre - where it was based - ceased trading.
This was despite calls from local councillors and the community for a Post Office service to remain in place and talks to be undertaken with other businesses in the area who may want to offer the service within their premises.
The Post Office say they advertised the vacancy on their website and also sent a representative to the area but no formal interest or application for the position was forthcoming.
In a letter to local representatives, they say the branch will "remain closed".
Labour councillor Joe Fagan told Lanarkshire Live : “I urge Post Office Ltd in the strongest possible terms to reconsider this closure.
"I am aware of businesses locally who were interested in taking on the Post Office but the model used is a big part of the problem.
"We need flexibility to knit together Post Office provision with a viable, local business in St Leonards.
“My constituents will be disadvantaged by the loss of this service and so I am appealing to Post Office Ltd not to give up on us now.”
And fellow Labour representative, Councillor Graham Scott, also said the Post Office needed to come up with a "more flexible" approach to attract another operator.
"There were other businesses interested but not with strict adherence to the traditional Post Office model - they need to negotiate properly and take a more modern approach to retain such a valuable asset for the community," he said.
"It is a devastating blow for the community and many of my constituents now have a trek to either Calderwood or the town centre - a kick in the teeth to the Scottish Government's '20 minute neighbourhood' vision with all the services, such as Post Offices, within a 20 minute walk of where people live."
And he said residents faced a double whammy with banks, who are also closing branches in East Kilbride, advising customers to use other methods including Post Offices.
Independent councillor Jim Wardhaugh said: "I think the whole community, but particularly the more elderly are really devastated by the loss of the PO.
"It has also had knock on effects for the adjacent supermarket. They still get people coming in for stamps faced with buying costly whole books.
"And for the more disadvantaged this PO was effectively their only 'banking' facility."
However, SNP Councillor Gladys Miller says she has been talking to a local pharmacy to investigate whether a portion of their space could be used for a PO service and that tenants were still being sought for the empty McColl's unit.
Gladys said: “St Leonards Post Office always had a very large footfall and the loss of this has been very hard for so many in the community.
“I’ve been in contact regularly with Post Office Counters and Reith Lambert on whether McColl’s have found a tenant for the empty unit. The next hurdle would be negotiating with a new tenant to host the Post Office.
“Given the enthusiasm from Post Office Counters, I am very positive we will eventually see our local Post Office return.”
The letter sent out by the Post Office to councillors this week states: "As you may be aware, the above Post Office closed last year for reasons beyond our control.
"Since then we have been exploring our options for restoring a Post Office service to our customers in the area but so far we have received no interest or formal applications for the position.
"Unfortunately, we have therefore been unable to identify a suitable solution and I’m writing to you and other local representatives to advise you that as there have been no suitable opportunities to re-establish a service, this branch will remain closed.
"We would of course consider any appropriate options if there are any significant changes in the area in the future.
"However due to the length of time the branch has been closed, we would need to satisfy ourselves that any new opportunity would be sustainable for both Post Office Ltd and the operator.
"We regret that we have been unable to restore a service locally."
Alternative branches are Calderwood Post Office or the Village Post Office in East Kilbride.
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