A HISTORIC village postbox that was seriously damaged by a reversing vehicle is to close permanently.

The Victorian postbox situated on Pancake Hill has been put out of service since the incident. 

However, due to the location, the Royal Mail have confirmed that it cannot be repaired and will have to close. 

Gloucestershire County Council Lib Dem leader Cllr Paul Hodgkinson and Chedworth and Churn Valley district councillor Jenny Forde (Lib Dems) wrote a joint letter to the Royal Mail's Post Box appearance team on behalf of residents to get it fixed.

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

In the letter it said: "As you know, the historic post box at the above location has been damaged by a reversing vehicle.

"People in the village feel strongly that the box should remain in use and be reinstated properly. We feel the same way too.

"Why? Firstly, this is an iconic postbox with the letters ‘VR’ on it.

"It is a piece of history and a landmark in the village.

"Secondly, this is an important rural service which is within walking distance of the part of Chedworth called Pancake Hill.

"The village has many parts to it and extends in different directions.

"Local services are constantly under threat and being lost so we need to maintain what we have.

"Asking people to drive to another post box in another part of the village doesn’t help the environment and and is impractical for those who are elderly.

"Therefore we call on the Post Office to repair the postbox and damaged wall and ensure that this historic part of the Cotswolds is brought back into use."

The Royal Mail said: "We can confirm that our postbox in Chedworth was seriously damaged due to it being hit by a vehicle.

"Due to the nature of the wall the box is in, it is not possible to remove the box to be repaired and it cannot be repaired as it is. After a thorough assessment, we have decided that the postbox will not be replaced, and we will soon be closing the box permanently

"We apologise to customers for any inconvenience and ask them to use any of the other four postboxes located nearby, or they can drop mail off at any Post Office branch."