A ‘much-needed’ store will no longer be closing in Clevedon this month.

Southern Co-op and Post Office, in Old Street, was set to close on April 24 at 1pm.

Residents of the town described the decision as a ‘real shame’ upon hearing the news, and an online and in-store petition was set up – both of which attracted hundreds of signatures.

However, Southern Co-op has gone against its previous decision to close after it ‘listened carefully to everyone’s feedback’.

Cllr Richardson, of Clevedon, welcomed the decision to remain open until further notice.

A spokesman for the Southern Co-op said: “Our decision to close our Clevedon store was made before the COVID-19 outbreak and driven by a legal and contractual obligation. By the time we started discussing the closure with colleagues and customers, the virus had drastically changed the landscape, and we were particularly sad to be doing it at a point in time when our colleagues, customers and communities were, and still are, facing such challenges.

“In light of this, we have further discussed our legal and contractual obligations with the relevant parties involved and will now be keeping the store and the Post Office open for the immediate future. We appreciate this has been unsettling for our colleagues, customers and the local community, and have listened carefully to everyone’s feedback.

“It is important we are fully transparent about the change in decision and we will need to review this again later in the year. However, we are committed to keeping the store open for the next six months as a minimum, subject to temporary variations linked to the current COVID-19 situation with colleague and stock availability. Our colleagues and customers will be informed as soon as we take any further decisions.”

A spokesman from the Post Office welcomed the decision.

He said: “We are delighted to announce that the operator for The Triangle Post Office has now extended their lease for a further six months. This will mean the shop and Post Office will no longer be closing in April as originally planned. This decision was agreed to maintain vital convenience store and Post Office provision to this community during these unprecedented times.”