Rumours that a busy post office in Oxford is to close have been quashed by senior managers.

The branch in St Clement's -- the only post office in the three miles between the city's main office in St Aldate's and Headington -- had been rumoured to be facing closure.

Worried residents contacted the Oxford Mail to protest about the situation.

Even sub-postmaster Ashe Pandya, who has run the shop for the past 15 years, said he was uncertain about the future.

He said: "I really don't know know what the Royal Mail's plans are, because no-one has come to talk to me about this."

But after we contacted the Royal Mail, a spokesman said that they had no intention of closing the business.

He added: "We have repeatedly stated that we are looking to have an urban post office within one mile of our customers, and at this time we have no plans to close this branch."

Jessie Dunlop, of Phelps Place, off Bath Street, St Clement's, said that the St Clement's office was surrounded by students' flats and residential apartment complexes for the elderly.

She said: "The closure of this office would mean that retired people would either need a bus journey to the city, or a long walk up Rectory Road to the Cowley Road.

"This would be impossible for many older people, and if the bus were taken to the main post office, they would be faced with long queues and a long wait."