Postal services are facing challenging times in Weymouth and Portland.

A post office on Portland will soon be up for sale, while a postbox has been removed from a main route in Weymouth, so locals can’t drop off their Christmas post.

Owners of community post office and newsagent The Paper Shop in Fortuneswell, Portland, say they want to retire and sell the business but are hopeful a buyer can be found.

Glyn Nash, who owns The Paper Shop with wife Elizabeth, the postmistress, insisted the post office would continue to operate after they retire.

“The post office isn’t closing, we are selling the business,” he said.

“It’s not been advertised yet but We’ve had interest already. It will carry on as it’s always been.”

A Post Office spokesman said: “The postmaster for Portland would like to retire at some point in the future and will be putting the business up for sale as a going concern very soon. We are very optimistic there will be a suitable buyer.”

Meanwhile in unrelated circumstances, a postbox on a main route through Wyke Regis in Weymouth has recently been removed.

The red pillar box outside former McColl’s Post Office on Portland Road was removed at the request of a private landowner, Royal Mail said. The shop closed in August and a developer has submitted a planning application to convert the shop into living accommodation.

Resident Colin Hobbs, who lives in nearby Williams Avenue, said: “The closest alternative post box is a short walk away, but it is a fifth of the size of the one on Portland Road, which was frequently full. I know logic and common sense don’t usually go together but you have to admit, neither have been used here.”

Wyke Regis councillor Tim Griffiths said: “The closure of the Wyke post office was bad enough, Royal Mail should provide an alternative. I’m particularly concerned because a good percentage of people in Wyke are elderly or retired, making life more difficult.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “This postbox is sited on private property and is being removed following a request from the landowner. We are legally obliged to remove boxes on private property if we are requested to do so. Customers are able to access eleven alternative postboxes within a mile’s radius of the current postbox.”