The future of St. Andrews Street Post Office is in jeopardy following reports that Barclays plans to convert the building into a bank branch.

Property consultants ‘Shire Consulting’ have submitted a planning application on behalf of Barclays requesting permission to convert the site “from shops to financial and professional services”. The application proposes to create a large central facility by merging Barclays’ three city branches on Bene’t Street, Market Hill, and St. Andrews Street.

The post office may move into the smaller site that would be left vacant by Barclays’ move. However, it is still uncertain whether the two businesses will be able to swap sites, raising the possibility that the post office could be closed with no nearby replacement.

The proposal has already generated strong opposition from many, including Cambridge Green Party councillor Margaret Wright, who expressed her distaste at the post office being “at the mercy of the private sector”.

As a result of numerous post office closures over recent months, the St. Andrews Street branch is currently more important than ever, providing crucial service to thousands of local residents and students. The closure of the Trumpington Street and Regent Street branches has meant that the St. Andrews Street branch is already stretched to the limit.

Brioney Gee from Jesus College stated that the queue at St. Andrews is “generally massive”, while Wright argued that even if it were possible to move the post office to a smaller site, what the franchise really needed was “an enlarged space, not a reduced one”.

The celebrated Trinity Street Post Office had also been scheduled to close last month, which would have left Cambridge with just one city centre post office. The move was halted temporarily when Cambridge City councillors held talks with the Post Office and Trinity College in a bid to secure the long-term future of the branch. According to councillor Tim Bick, “the Post Office are actively trying to identify a new party who can take over the franchise.”

The search for a new franchisee for the Trinity Street location may be forced to accelerate if the closure of the St. Andrews Street branch goes ahead. A Post Office Ltd. spokesman said that the company was still “exploring options”, and that “nothing is confirmed yet”.

Nevertheless, the Post Office emphasised that they were “fully committed to keeping a post office in the centre of Cambridge,” and that any prospective changes will be “subject to a full public consultation”.