CUSTOMERS have said a sad farewell to two Post Office staff as facilities in Dawlish convert to a changed format. 

But the decision has been widely condemned as Dawlish is now left without a main Post Office counter or a single bank. 

The departing staff who worked at the dedicated Post Office counter in One Stop in The Strand have been thanked by many customers for their dedication and service as the counter closed for good, described as the ‘end of an era’.

Now a single counter will be provided at the front of the store alongside the main till points. 

But this has been predicted to cause ‘mayhem’ as the previous counter was always busy. 

While many praised the two Post Office staff, they were also highly critical of the decision to make the changes. 

The Post Office counter had been known as being busy and was regularly used. 

The decision to make the change was described as ‘ridiculous’, ‘dreadful’ and ‘shameful’. 

One customer said it was a ‘sad day’ and the Post Office was needed ‘today as much as ever’. 

Another said it was a ‘terrible idea’.

Charity Dawlish Community Transport thanked the staff and said they would be missed by many. 

It was confirmed in November last year that the main Post Office counter would be closed with services moving to a new area.

At the time, a spokesman for One Stop said it had seen a ‘significant change’ in the way customers were using its Post Offices as many services had moved online. 

The spokesman explained: ‘Due to this, we will be converting a number of our main Post Office branches to local formats.

‘We’d like to reassure our customers that, dependent on the store, they will still be able use our many banking and bill services, postal services as well as travel essentials such as organising travel insurance and picking up their travel money.’

But customers remain unconvinced the move will work and blasted the changes, saying the Post Office counter had often had long queues. 

It has been claimed the shop had been looking to expand its floor space.