A Kilwinning convenience store and Post Office will close as part of a nationwide cull.
RS McColl on the town's Main Street will close after Christmas.
The in-house Post Office will close along with the shop but bosses at the delivery giant won't commit to retaining the service in the town.
Supermarket giant Morrisons, which is the parent company to RS McColl, has made the call to close over 130 stores across the country due to low profits.
A spokesperson for The Post Office said: "We regret to confirm that Morrisons have taken the difficult decision to close some McColl’s stores that hosted Post Offices, due to the unprofitability of the retail in that store, not helped by the difficult high street conditions facing retailers.
“Morrisons have confirmed that they will keep Kilwinning Post Office open throughout the Christmas period and that it will close in the New Year. We will undertake an assessment of the local area and will be working closely with nearby postmasters to support them with the likely increase in footfall for both their Post Office and their own retail services and will review requirements for the local community.
“Pennyburn Post Office, located at the local centre, is a nearby alternative Post Office customers can use in the New Year. It’s open seven days a week and it’s a short bus ride away from Kilwinning. A larger, alternative Post Office is also located nearby in Irvine and open six days a week.”
In an online post, Kilwinning Councillor Donald Reid shared his correspondence with Morrisons.
He said: "Separately reported you will be aware of the difficulties RS McColl have found themselves in previously and the takeover by Morrisons. This will result in the proposals to close the store on Main Street.
"I have contacted the Post Office regarding the counter in this unit and received an update from them this afternoon.
"I am hopeful that the counter service will move within the Main Street and will continue to engage with the post office on this basis. No redundancies are expected to the current staffing team but I do think of them at this challenging time of uncertainty and period to closure."
The response from the Post Office to councillor Reid admitted the news was 'troubling'.
The correspondence goes on to detail: "Post Office is facing a particularly challenging period, as other high street retailers are. The impact of rising costs, inflation and restrictions on our funding from Government mean that we cannot guarantee that every branch will be replaced. We have well over 11,500 branches in the UK and we are abiding to the access criteria which is set by the UK Government. More on the access criteria can be found on this link.
"We will be notifying local stakeholders and informing the community on what we are doing to ensure they can continue to access Post Office products and services. We are also working with nearby branches who may be impacted by the closures in their area to support them with an expected increase in footfall to their branches.
"Please be assured that we take this seriously and we are working to ensure there is as little disruption to customers as possible."
Joseph Sutton, the director of Morrisons wholesale, said: "We very much regret the proposed closure of 132 loss-making stores but it is, very sadly, an important step towards the regeneration of the business."
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