A PUB licensee has stepped in to save Bala's post office.

Elen Parry, owner of The Ship and the Plas Coch Hotel in the town, will take over the post office branch and its shop.

They are hopeful it will prove a lucrative business opportunity as well as spare the town a further blow in the wake of recent bank branch closures.

Until Mrs Parry stepped in, the post office had been facing a drastic reduction in services offered to customers.

She said: “It provides a very important service to the community, particularly after the town has lost two banks – Barclays and NatWest – with only HSBC left for face-to-face service.

“The elderly community that cannot use cash machines or online banking could have suffered.”

As well as serving as a post office, the business is a gift shop, selling toys and stationery.

Mrs Parry, 38, and husband Iwan, 25, hopes it will help provide a secure future for her children, Robin, aged one, and three-month-old Gwen. Mrs Parry said: “We have a young family and we wanted to provide a stable future for them as well keeping local amenities open.

“Hopefully the post office continuing to run will mean more employment and more people coming into the town, which will in turn provide a stable economy.”