The Post Office should provide an hour-long stop each week in a Suffolk village that has lost its 'lifeline' outreach service, an MP has said.

Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey has called for the service to Kelsale to be reinstated after being axed in March as part of a shake-up of provision for rural communities.

The Post Office has been looking to ensure that in the current 'challenging' economic climate its 'limited' funding benefited the maximum number of customers.

READ MORE: Plans still being 'finalised' for Kelsale Post Office

East Anglian Daily Times: Therese Coffey says stopping in the village for an hour a week would provide a lifeline outreach service.Therese Coffey says stopping in the village for an hour a week would provide a lifeline outreach service. (Image: House of Commons)

While Kelsale's provisions were cut, customers in Snape, Yoxford, Wangford and Walberswick are being served by a mobile Post Office van and Dr Coffey would like the van to also visit Kelsale.

She said: "Not only has the Post Office switched some of our rural outreach services to a mobile van, it's also reducing the places that are served.

"My ask of them is to add a simple stop in Kelsale for an hour a week, where the previous outreach service conducted good numbers of transactions.”

READ MORE: Kelsale residents will have to travel to Saxmundham

The move to cut the Kelsale service followed the departure of the postmaster at Saxmundham, with the mobile service now being run by the postmaster at Cliff Lane Post Office in Ipswich.

Concerns had been raised that elderly and less mobile customers would have to visit the Saxmundham Post Office more than a mile away.

READ MORE: Suffolk news

READ MORE: Saxmundham news

Dr Coffey added: “Although the Post Office have previously been quite intransient on this, I’m determined to keep up my campaign and I’m pleased that the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, has given me her commitment that she’ll also raise this directly with the Post Office.”