FEARS Newquay’s main Post Office could close have been allayed.

The Post Office proposes to sign up a new sub postmaster or tenant to take over the branch in East Street.

The branch is among 115 Crown Post Offices across the country that are under threat, which the Post Office centrally owns.

The firm is looking to offload the most unprofitable sites from its total network of 11,500 branches across the UK.

The closures put at risk approximately 1,000 jobs, although the Post Office expects that all the branches will be refranchised to new owners over the next five years.

The plan is part of the Post Office's drive to transition to a fully franchised model.

The shake-up could see the branches transferred to retail partners or postmasters or shut for good.

About 2,000 branches are operated by partners including Tesco, W H Smith and Morrisons, and about 9,000 are run by independent operators that have a contract with the Post Office.

Newquay central Cornwall councillor Louis Gardner said: “There have been a number of questions about what is going on with Newquay Post Office.

“The building on East Street is owned by two separate companies. Royal Mail own about three quarters of the building. The sorting office upstairs and the depot around the back.

“Nothing is changing with the Royal Mail use of the building or its future in Newquay.

“About a quarter of the building, which is half the downstairs is owned by the Post Office, which is a completely separate company.

“The Post Office has decided that they want to move a number of their actual frontline customer facing parts of the post office and they want them under local subcontract under a sub postmaster or a local tenant.

“The idea is not to close it. They are looking for a new tenant to take it on as a sub branch of the post office.

“So, hopefully we will see no change to the post office. What the best thing people can do as members of the public is keeping supporting the post office. It offers all sorts of service including your banking from any of the high street’s banks, get your travel money as well as posting parcels.

“I have had the update from the head office of the Post Office is the intention is to transfer the ownership and the operation to a new tenant so hopefully that gives people some peace of mind.

“It doesn’t mean that it is 100 per cent safe but of course we want to keep its future in Newquay. There is no change to the Royal Mail part of the building.”