A protest is going ahead in Haworth on Sunday to save the historic post office on Main Street.

It has come about after Post Office Ltd proposed to close the local post-office branch and move it inside the new co-op store on Station Road in September.

The post office has been there for more than 150 years and serves many residents and businesses in the area.

It is also a a tourist destination for Bronte lovers, as it is where the famous sisters used to post their letters.

Lydia MacKinnon, 59, spokesperson for Save Haworth Main Street Post Office group said: “It's an iconic street scene, it’s one of the most iconic street scenes in the UK, but it’s not only visited by thousands of people it also has lots of residents and businesses that use the post office. It’s the only place on Main Street where you can get cash out.”

The protest will take place on the church steps in Haworth at midday on Sunday August 22.

A public consultation is running until August 27 so that local people can give their views on the proposed move, however Lydia said that elderly people are struggling to sign it as it is online.

Post Office Ltd has stated on their site that their “priority is to safeguard Post Office services to the local community in the longer term, this branch has been operated on our behalf by a temporary operator".

They added: "Whilst this has allowed us to maintain Post Office services locally, we have continued to look for a more sustainable solution for customers served by Haworth and the previously closed Haworth Brow branch.”

Lydia added: “The aim of the group is to persuade the post office to keep Main Street Post Office, but we also acknowledge that we need another post office in the Station Road part of Haworth.”

The move of the post office raises concern for business owners in the area that would have to travel across the village with their takings to ‘hand over their cash’ in the co-op store.

It is also a concern for elderly people who would have a 15-minute walk down a steep cobbled hill to get to the new location.

The move has also raised mental health concerns for the many elderly people living in sheltered accommodation nearby.

Lydia said: "There’s also a mental health aspect to this. The postmaster might be the only person an old person speaks to every day. At the moment, they can just walk to the post office, and chat to the postmaster, and will now have to walk a long way, down Main Street that’s hopeless in snow or ice, or get a bus which would make what would be a 15-minute round trip, to an hour."

Keighley MP Robbie Moore, whose constituency includes Haworth, met with the Save Haworth Post Office campaign group committee ahead of a previous protest.

He said: “Moving the post office away from the centre of the village down an extremely steep hill makes no sense whatsoever.

"As we emerge from the Covid pandemic, we need to make our villages and their amenities more accessible to residents and tourists – not create barriers.

“It is vital now that as many people as possible respond to the consultation to make their feelings known that this decision is not supported by the community.”

The group has also set up a petition that has now had more than 5000 signatures, meaning that Keighley MP Robbie Moore can present it to Parliament. 

People have commented on the petition to say the reason they have signed is because the post-office is “historical and iconic” and “still important to the people who use it today”.

To sign the petition, click here.

To sign the public consultation, click here