A Ryedale post office has closed - the second in two months.

And in a further blow the Post Office at Sawdon, near Scarborough, has also been forced to cease operating.

The closure of Westerdale post office, in the North York Moors, is seen as bad news by the Yorkshire Rural Community Council, which has called for greater support for rural branches.

Last month the Evening Press highlighted the plight of residents in Staxton, on the Ryedale border near Scarborough, who lost their post office when the village postmaster retired.

Ian Strong, director of the community council, said the closures had come at a time when the Government had just announced its Rural White Paper which highlighted its support for rural sub-post offices.

"The closures are a serious threat to village life; once they are closed there is usually little hope of getting them back again," he said.

"The areas affected are remote, which makes their losses even harder felt."

Post office bosses are advertising for successors to take over the businesses, but if no one is found they could close permanently."

The residents of Sawdon will have to travel two miles to Brompton to use a post office and those in Westerdale will face a similar journey to Caslteton or Danby, three-and-a-half miles away, said Mr Strong.

Meanwhile, all efforts to find a replacement postmaster for Staxton post office have so far been unsuccessful.

Edwin Cooper, clerk to the parish council, said the job had been advertised extensively in the village but no one had come forward.

"The post office in Staxton closed on October 25 and the villagers have been struggling ever since," he said.

"It is proving a problem for the elderly residents of the village because they have to travel to Seamer, which is several miles away."

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