A PETITION to bring back a post office to Normanby has secured more than 3,600 signatures in less than a month.

Residents and local business owners have joined forces for the campaign as the community has been without a post office since July last year.

The closure has resulted in a drop off in trade on Normanby High Street as locals travel out of the area to use alternative post offices.

Kenny Surtees, of Jubilees (CORR) Cards, said: “We lost the post office about eight months ago when the former postmaster left and the service has never been replaced.

“I just decided to start a petition and within a few weeks we had 3,600 signatures on it.

"We are hoping to hand it over to someone from the post office when they come up next week to speak about the situation."

Mr Surtees praised several locals for helping with the petition, including Pat Turner, James McLaren and Catherine and Brian Laverick.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of Normanby Post Office following the resignation of the subpostmaster and withdrawal of premises for post office use.

“We would like to reassure customers that we are working hard to restore the service to the community as soon as possible and are committed to maintaining services in the area.

“A retailer has expressed a strong interest in running the post office and we hope to be able to provide further information once any final decision has been made.”