A VILLAGE post office and shop is being forced to close because of dwindling takings.

Mac Turner and Hilary Baker, the owners of Castle Combe Post Office and Store blame the knock-on effect of foot and mouth disease and the terrorist attacks on America for frightening tourists away.

The pair have been running the business for four years but say they cannot afford to carry on.

Mr Turner blames the Government for killing this year's trade. He said people were badly informed in the early weeks of the foot and mouth disaster.

"The Government gave out the wrong information," he said.

"It gave a knee-jerk reaction to the foot and mouth crisis, told people not to go to the countryside and they didn't. It was an over reaction."

Mr Turner and Ms Baker have given Post Office Counters three months' notice and they are due to shut up shop for the last time on January 7.

Ms Baker said only a miracle, such as a win on the National Lottery, would enable the couple to change their minds.

Takings for their bed and breakfast business have also plummeted in the last few months.

They are being forced to diversify, and are looking at corporate entertaining in the hope of attracting businessmen to the bed and breakfast rather than tourists.

"It is dire," said Ms Baker. "We limped through the foot and mouth crisis, our Japanese tourists have stopped coming because of the Asian money markets and now we have lost American tourists because of the events of September 11. That day was the icing on the cake."

Mr Turner and Ms Baker made their decision to close the Village Post Office and Shop within 24 hours of the terrorist attack on New York.

With bills to pay and income decreasing they said they were faced with little choice.

With only the bed and breakfast left Ms Baker said she and her partner were going to have to look elsewhere for part time work to supplement their income.

"This really is a double blow, not only to us but also to the village. We have done our best to keep it running over the last few months but it is time to call it a day," she said.

Ms Baker said she felt it was not only the loss of her livelihood; her actions were also letting the village down.

Villagers held a public meeting last Friday but Ms Baker said there were no solutions offered and no ideas put forward of different ways to keep the businesses running.

"We have lived in the village for 11 years and are very passionate about it. This has been one of the hardest decisions ever," she said.

"The shop is not only our work and lives, it is also the focal point of the village who knows what will happen now."

Other traders in the village say they are also suffering.

Alison Holland opened the Gallery on the Bridge a year ago selling fine art and local crafts

She said the last 12 months had not been the easiest but she is hoping things will improve.

"Foot and mouth and the attack on America on September 11 have certainly affected trade," she said.

"If pubs, hotels and bed and breakfasts aren't busy then obviously it has a knock -on effect.

"I have been in business for many years and no two years are the same. I am optimistic for the future," said Mrs Holland.

Castle Combe was recently voted Most Picturesque Village in the 2001 Traveller's Choice Awards by British Heritage Magazine.

It has attracted visitors for many decades. It has also been the scene of many films, the most famous being Doctor Dolittle, which was filmed in and around the village in 1966.

Most recently the village was the backdrop for The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd starring David Suchet.