A POST office has been forced to close after its postmaster was jailed for fraud.

Residents who turned up at Poverest sub-post office, in Marion Crescent, Orpington, and discovered it boarded up, will now have to travel as far as Carlton Parade.

Tom Foley, 72, of Loxley Drive, said: "It's going to have a devastating effect on the neighbourhood it's the only post office in the area.

"It was the centre point of the community and a real meeting point. It was so sudden, nobody knew what had happened.

"I was worried the owner had been mugged or killed. But he looked as though he had the world on his shoulders and it seems he did have."

As reported in News Shopper, sub-post master Anthony Murphy, aged 61, was jailed for 15 months for swindling more than £33,000 out of the Post Office.

Post Office Ltd is now looking for new premises from which to restore services to the area as Mr Murphy is the owner of the Marion Road premises, the company has no rights to the building.

Ward councillor Colin Willetts said: "Having already lost one sub-post office in Tillingbourne Green, this is another major blow to residents, particularly our senior citizens.

"If this post office cannot be reopened in the near future, I would like to see the council liaise with the Post Office to market and re-open the former post office at Tillingbourne Green."

A spokesman for the Post Office Ltd said: "The Poverest post office has closed due to circumstances beyond our control.

"We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and we're looking to restore services at alternative premises as soon as possible."

He recommended customers temporarily use the Orpington High Street main branch or Carlton Parade.