Friday will be last day for Abronhill's post office

And at this point, there is no replacement for the premises in the densely populated ‘satellite’ of the town – and its patrons are being advised to travel to the town centre where another sub-post office can be found within WH Smith.

Spar operator CJ Lang & Son said the closure of Post Office counters in 31 of their stores, including Abronhill were necessary in order to ensure the convenience stores themselves could continue operating – in a move criticised by local politicians.

A spokesperson for CJ Lang & Son said "Since CJ Lang announced its decision to close 31 counters, we have been working hard to mitigate the impact to those communities affected. We know how much local communities and businesses rely on our branches. Around half of the branches closed by CJ Lang are currently at various stages of the onboarding process for like-for-like replacements. In the remaining locations, affected local communities are close to alternative branches and these have been managing customer demand."

The Post Office has invited businesses in the area to consider housing a new post office within their premises but so far, no such alternative has materialised. Cumbernauld controversially lost its Crown post office back in 2015 – leading to claims that the WH Smith branch is not big enough to cope with demand.