A CO-OP store and Post Office in Somerset is set to close in a matter of weeks.
The Co-op store on the Avenue in Minehead is confirmed to be closing down, with the Post Office set to go with it.
Once shut, it leaves the town with a shortage of post office services, with the nearest ones in Timberscombe and Dunster, both nearly two miles away.
It comes as another shop on The Avenue is closing this month (April 2026), with Holland and Barrett coming to the end of its lease.
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No official closure date has been confirmed for the convenience store. The Avenue Post Office will close "around mid-June" 2026, giving customers less than two months to use the available postal services.
A spokesperson for Co-op said: "Co-op remains committed to serving the Minehead community through our Alcombe store.
“Our priority is to fully support The Avenue store colleagues, and we would like to thank the community for its continued support for the Co-op in the town.”
A Post Office spokesperson added: "We are aware that the Co-op store, where Avenue Post Office is based, is closing and we are finalising the date of when the branch will need to close at this location around mid-June.
"We know how important a Post Office is to a community is and we advertised the vacancy.
"We are working hard to restore service to the community as soon as possible and we will share further details when plans are clearer."
This closure has been considered as "devastating", with Minehead's MP, Rachel Gilmour confirming she has written to the Post Office demanding a permanent solution to allow residents to continue using postal services in the West Somerset town.
Ms Gilmour MP said: "This news is devastating to Minehead, potentially losing the Co-op and Post Office in the same closure.
"Without a car, traveling to Tesco or Lidl is difficult for many of my constituents, so the loss of the Co-op alone would be a worry, but the fact that it might take the Post Office with it is very concerning to me.
"Rural and coastal communities like Minehead need accessible postal services, which is why I have written to the Post Office, asking them to publicly commit to maintaining a Post Office service in Minehead, from a temporary location if required, and to urgently find suitable alternative locations within the town for a permanent solution.
"I hope that Post Office officials will meet with me urgently to discuss this matter, and I will be voicing my concerns vociferously with PO senior management. My office has already asked for a meeting with them.
"At every stage in this process, the Post Office and Co-op should be engaging with the residents of Minehead, and their representatives; these services are too important to my constituents for me to demand anything less."
