A CLOSE-knit community could lose its local post office after New Forest planners supported proposals to turn the building into two houses.

An application to convert the shop and post office at Lower Buckland Road, Lymington, was approved at a meeting of New Forest District Council's planning and development control committee.

Lymington and Pennington Town Council had objected to the scheme, saying it breached an important planning policy that aimed to save community facilities.

New Milton member Ben Earwicker said: " The closure of the post office would be a great loss to the area. If this was a post office in a small village we would be very cross about the proposal."

Brockenhurst member Maureen Holding said: "I am concerned about the potential loss of a local amenity for old people. There are people in the area who don't have cars and will have to walk quite a distance if this facility closes."

The committee was addressed by Lymington town councillor Flo Wiseman, who said: "It would be tragic if an old shop that has served so many generations were to close."

However, council officers recommended the committee to approve the application. They said it was not essential to retain the premises, which merely supplemented town centre facilities.

A proposal to reject the scheme was defeated.

After the meeting the applicant, sub-postmaster Tim Baker, confirmed that the shop and the post office were running at a considerable loss.

However, he said he was negotiating with Post Office Counters Ltd and had no plans to shut the business "in the immediate short-term".