A Broads village’s post office could be saved by a couple who are willing to pay up to £20,000 of their own money to keep the service alive.

Horning Post Office will close next month as its current sub-postmasters are retiring after running the service in the village for the past 12 years.

There has been a branch in Horning for well over a century, but its future looked uncertain after the Post Office refused to fund a new counter in the village.

Now, Gail and Ian Watling, who run Tidings Newsagents in Lower Street, want to pay the Post Office up to £20,000 out of their own back pockets to cover the costs of opening a counter in their village shop.

The intervention comes after the Post Office said it would no longer fund the service in Horning due to a low number of transactions, and because the nearest post office in Hoveton is within its three-mile threshold.

North Norfolk News: Ian and Gail Watling, owners of Tidings Newsagents in Lower Street, HorningIan and Gail Watling, owners of Tidings Newsagents in Lower Street, Horning (Image: Supplied)

“We have decided that we will put the funds in ourselves to keep the post office in the village,” Gail said.

“It’s something we felt we had to do for the village. In the long term it will benefit the shop, but from our point of view it’s not for us but for Horning.

“I just can’t see how we would manage without one.”

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North Norfolk News: Horning Post Office, in Lower Street, will close on May 11 when sub-postmasters Andrew and Adrienne Seddon retireHorning Post Office, in Lower Street, will close on May 11 when sub-postmasters Andrew and Adrienne Seddon retire (Image: Jon Poynton)

Tidings has been in Gail's family since 1989, previously being run by her parents Ralph and Georgie Morris. 

Horning’s current post office, also in Lower Street, is set to close on May 11 when sub-postmasters Andrew and Adrienne Seddon retire.

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Duncan Baker, MP for North Norfolk and a former sub-postmaster, has thrown his support behind Gail’s campaign and met with the Post Office this week.

North Norfolk News: Duncan Baker, MP for North Norfolk, pictured with Gail Watling outside Tidings Newsagents in HorningDuncan Baker, MP for North Norfolk, pictured with Gail Watling outside Tidings Newsagents in Horning (Image: Duncan Baker)

He said: “They don’t feel Horning warrants a post office, which I said was absolute nonsense.

“Horning is a vibrant village on the Norfolk Broads, which attracts millions of visitors every year. It’s a thriving village with shops and high street.

“But it has an elderly population with absolutely no access to cash withdrawal at all once the post office terminal closes.

"It's a scandalous decision by the Post Office.”