NEWQUAY Post Office is at risk of closure as part a radical nationwide overhaul to cut costs.

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

The struggling 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, WH Smith and Morrisons, and about 9,000 are run by independent operators that have a contract with the Post Office.

The Transformation Plan follows the Horizon scandal, which saw thousands of subpostmasters accused of fraud due to faulty accounting software.

Some were jailed or forced to pay back thousands of pounds while others were ostracised by their communities for crimes they did not commit.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are considering a range of options to reduce our central costs. This includes considering the future of our remaining directly managed branches, which are loss-making.

“We have long held a publicly-stated ambition to move to a fully franchised network and we are in dialogue with the unions about future options for the directly managed branches.” 

“We have not made an announcement about any branch anywhere in the UK.

 “Newquay Post Office is a directly managed branch.”

The closure plans have been condemned by the Communications Workers Union ( CWU).

Dave Ward, the general secretary of the CWU, stated the business and the government would have a fight on its hands.

Mr Ward said: “For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of post offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral. For them to now fear for their jobs head of Christmas is yet another cruel attack.

“While we are in the middle of a government review of the Post Office’s future, the employer has embarked on its own strategic review. It seems the Post Office has learned no lessons from its chaotic and uncoordinated mistakes of the past.

“We call on the Post Office to immediately halt these planned closure and the attached consultations – which, historically, have been nothing but playing lip service – and engage with the CWU on protecting jobs and services.

“We also call on the government to intervene over this shambolic decision.”