Machynlleth’s Post Office downgrade has been shelved, with protestors hailing the news a victory.

Residents were dismayed when news broke that the Spar-come-Post Office was to be downgraded last October.

Following a campaign from both residents and staff, the plans, which would include reducing the Post Office desks from two to one, have been shelved by Spar franchise owners AF Blakemore & Son Ltd.

Staff were not notified of this decision to abandon the plans, which could have put jobs at risk.

They only found out that the plans had been “ruled out” after a resident submitted a Freedom of Information request to find out more details.

An Information Commissioner’s Reviewing Officer responded in a letter: “Since your original request and subsequent correspondence, there has been a material change in circumstances.

“AF Blakemore & Son Ltd, which owns the Spar store, has now decided not to progress any changes at the Machynlleth Spar and Post Office branch for the foreseeable future and all plans for any changes have been ruled out.”

Machynlleth resident Cassian Lodge is a wheelchair user and was concerned the changes would force them onto public transport to access some of the Post Office services, such as ID services, vehicle tax and travel services, all of which would have been taken away from the branch as part of the downgrade.

Cassian currently lives 15 minutes away from the Post Office on foot - the changes would have turned their journey into a three-hour round trip.

Speaking of the win, they said: “I'm relieved, because the Post Office is always busy and we wouldn't have had enough space with the proposed layout.

“It's a long way for me to the next nearest post office by public transport in a wheelchair.

“But we still need dedicated queuing space, so that people waiting for the Post Office counter don't have to keep moving out of the way for shoppers.”

The changes would have removed the dedicated Post Office desk at the back of the shop and moved to a single desk attached to the existing tills.

The closest full-time Post Office with matching services would have been Aberdyfi nine miles away.

In December, the town staged a protest outside the Post Office while senior management was visiting.

They presented the management with a petition against the changes, signed by 700 concerned residents.

Staff also penned a letter voicing their concerns that staff safety, storage space and security in cash-handling procedures had not been considered.

One of those behind the protest was Jenny La, who, responding to the news, thanked Blakemore’s for meeting with them and the staff, adding: “This shows when people stand together we can influence and have an impact.

“The community came together to write, petition, stand, speak, write for a common interest.

“When we stand collectively we are powerful; we may not get what we would like but working together builds community.”

AF Blakemore & Son Ltd did not respond to repeated requests for comment.