THE future of a rural post office has been secured and the new owners want it to become a focal point for the village.

Downham Post Office changed hands when Keith Loveridge, 45, took charge alongside wife Margaret, 52 from previous owners Christine and Eric Taylor.

The Loveridge's, who previously ran a self catering and off-licence business in Surrey, are looking forward to the challenge of running the Post Office which is housed in the same building as a tea shop and village store.

The news has provided a boost to the village and bucks the trend for the rural post office network which has been hammered by closures over the past few years.

The post office network is losing £200million a year and the government is widely expected to require some closures as part of a subsidy renewal agreement.

Over the past eight years more than 4,000 branches have closed, including many that played a vital role in communities in the Ribble Valley.

But many more Post Offices, such as the one in downham, have closed because nobody has been willing to take them on.

The Downham example follows the lead of other villages such as Hurst Green where the Post Office is incorporated in to the Eagle and Child pub.

Mr Loveridge said: "We really want people to know what we can offer because some times I don't think they are aware of what we can give them.

"We can do mobile phone top ups, maybe offer foreign currency and just get people in here."

And there are also big plans for the tea rooms, with Mr Loveridge intending to make the most local producers and retailers and the products.

"People seem to think we are a cafe and we want to make them aware that it's a tea room selling locally produced food.

"Hopefully, we can starts selling things jams and marmalades that we use in the cakes in the shop as well.

"We want people to use this as much as they can and it can become a really positive thing for the village."

The village post office has been in Downham since the 1900s and was originally housed in one of two cottages that belonged to the Assheton Arms public house, then called the George and Dragon until 1955, when it moved to the present site.