FOR six weeks, residents of a handful of local villages have been without any sort of Post Office service because the mobile van which supplied the service is not working.

It is not that the van has broken down, it is because, apparently, it cannot get a connection to be able to use the equipment to serve people.

The villages affected include Bow, Morchard Bishop, Yeoford and Burrington. It used to call at Chittlehamholt but it is understood that now has its own shop with a Post Office service. It also called at Ashreigney.

However, as they all have not had a service since February 29, complaints are rising. Letters have been sent and calls made complaining to the Post Office, to Mel Stride, MP for Central Devon, and to BT.

A spokesperson for the Post Office press office said technicians were trying to resolve problems with connectivity. On March 29 she said it was hoped to have a solution soon.

On March 4 the press office said it was looking into this and would send an update as soon as she could find out whether it was a BT or Openreach problem, or whether it was something else.

BT has said it cannot see a common problem and wanted to know who was the provider for the van, information which has proved more difficult to find than at first thought, but one more avenue is being explored for that.

Bow Parish Council clerk, Brenda Ware, said the parish council had again been receiving complaints because of the poor service, the van had broken down in the past or the connection failed.

She added: “The current episode of non-attendance is the most recent in a long history of less than satisfactory service.”

Burrington Parish Council has received several complaints and has been in contact with the Post Office, adding that the problem appears to be with the BT telephone in the van. “I fail to see why this is taking so long to fix,” ended the statement.

Chittlehamholt parish clerk said she would bring this up at the April 25 meeting.

Crediton Hamlets Parish Council, at its meeting on Monday, talked about this and is to write to Central Devon MP Mel Stride about the service and the recently announced cuts to Phase Two of the broadband roll out.

Morchard Bishop is as annoyed as all the other villages not visited. A letter has been sent to Mel Stride from Cllr Judi Binks, Mid Devon District Council member for that area.

She says that Morchard spent a long time trying to get a much-needed mobile Post Office for two hours a week, on Tuesdays.

She said it was well supported, particularly by older residents. “The first week there was no notice of non-arrival, a queue of people formed and several phone calls were made by the owner of the London Inn to find out what was happening.

“Since then I understand notice has been given on occasions, but the people of Morchard Bishop are losing patience at the lack of service and poor communication.

“Having access to mobile Post Office facilities is vitally important in rural locations as not everyone has transport or Internet.

“The parish council worked to negotiate its provision and expressed its concern at last Monday’s council meeting.” Cllr Binks asked Mel Stride for help to restore the service.

So it is now a case of wait and see how much longer it will take for the villages, several of which have no or a very poor bus service, to see again the bright red Post Office van parked up and working for an hour or two.

Sue Read