Plans have been submitted to incorporate a former post office and village store into an adjoining home.

Plans have been submitted for a village in Babergh to convert its former store into a part of the house that surrounds it. 

Elmsett Post Office closed in September last year, with owners Julian Edwards and Sasha Lawrence saying their revenue had seen a dramatic drop following the sudden closure of The Street in Aldham. 

They added that they had been subsidising the counter from their own pockets and had lost trust in the organisation.

However, they continued to sell stamps from the village store adjacent to the post office, before closing the store in March.

Now, they have submitted plans with the help of their agent, Ben Elvin Planning Consultancy, to incorporate the former store and post office into their home. 

The application to Babergh District Council seeks to convert areas of the vacant store into a new kitchen, dining room and pantry. 

The house already has three bedrooms and there are no plans to add any more. 

The applicants say plans for alterations to the village hall to provide a new community shop means their plans to incorporate the former post office and store into their home will not amount to a loss of amenities for the residents of Elmsett. 

Their planning statement notes that it is no longer viable for the couple to continue the shop and since Babergh's Local Plan allows for such conversions  they hope permission will be granted. 

In the planning statement, Ben Elvin says: "This is not a vacant community premise, but a residential building where one small part has served that community function.

"Seeking to market it separately from the residential use is neither practical nor reasonable."

When they couple decided to shut the post office last year, residents were disappointed with James Cartlidge, MP for South Suffolk, raising concerns about what it would mean for the village.