AN MP has been invited to visit the former Tang Hall Lane Post Office in York, so that he ‘fully understands the issues’ when he next calls for it to reopen.

York Central MP Hugh Bayley said on Thursday that he had written to Government Minister Norman Lamb over the post office, which he said had closed down “temporarily” more than a year ago, but was still shut, leaving residents having to manage without it. Royal Mail said then it was doing all it could to restore post office services to the community as soon as possible.

Mel Raper, proprietor of Tang Hall Lane Newsagents, said the shop, which formerly included the Post Office, remained open as a newsagency and was not “empty,” as had been suggested in reports.

He said the Post Office had shut because the terms offered by Royal Mail made it unviable, and he thought the same problems would apply with any existing business in the area where it wanted to open a Post Office.

He claimed Mr Bayley had never visited the premises, and he wanted to invite him to visit so he could fully understand the issues.