THE OPENING of a post office in Atworth heralds a change in fortunes following a wave of branch closures across west Wiltshire.

The new branch, at the Bear Garage on Bath Road, opens its doors on Thursday, the same week other offices close in Melksham, Westbury and Warminster.

The White Hart pub housed the village's only post office until October and its closure forced elderly residents to travel to Melksham to obtain benefits, post parcels, buy stamps or use any other post office services.

Charles Boyle, clerk of Atworth Parish Council, said its closure had been a big loss for the community.

He said: "Clearly we welcome having a post office back in the village. We were very saddened when the previous one closed.

"The elderly had a distance to travel into Whitley and Melksham so are now looking forward to it."

While the residents of Atworth are celebrating, five other communities are losing their post offices, despite battling to keep them open.

Bath Road and Woodrow Road branches in Melksham; Boreham Road and Goodwin Close in Warminster and a branch in Westbury Leigh all shut their doors for the last time on Tuesday.

A further three stores in Trowbridge are all waiting for a final closure date to be confirmed.

Melksham town councillor Vic Oakman criticised the closures.

"To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Part of our community has been shut down and for want of what? This is the thin end of the wedge.

"For a lot of our elderly it's like a health check for them. It's a meeting place and somewhere they can be kept an eye on."

Warminster town councillor Les Rose said the closures would hit the elderly hardest.

"There are lots of very elderly people who have never had a bank account but the Government is forcing people to draw their pensions through the banks.

"The Boreham post office will be greatly missed. Boreham is really like a large village on the edge of the town.

Meanwhile staff at the Atworth garage are now training in preparation for the post office counter opening.

Diana Norris, 48, who works at the garage, said: "They are trying to keep the rural ones post offices open so we have had to revamp our shop completely and are being trained.

"It's better to have one in the village and we tried to do the best for the villagers. We have gone out of our way to have the post office here.

"At the moment we are planning to open every morning.

"But we have 600 customers a day so we are hoping to open full-time."