AS post offices across the country face the ongoing threat of closure one community has fought back.

In 2010, 77 post offices closed or were put up for sale in Scotland.

Earlier this year the Evening Times highlighted five post offices in Glasgow which were either closed or for sale, they were: Penilee branch; Victoria Road, Pollokshields; Halhill Road, Barlanark: Drumoyne and Castlemilk.

A branch in Clydebank, Airdrie Post Office, Cadzow Street office in Hamilton, Stepps Post Office and Milton of Campsie Post Office were also affected.

Two offices in Coatbridge were up for sale – one in Main Street and the other in the Townhead area.

But when the same thing happened to the post office in Bridge of Weir, the community decided top do something about it .

In just four weeks £20,000 was raised enabling them to set up on their own post office in a vacant council library on Main Street.

And today their hard work will have paid off when the facility opens its doors for the first time.

The campaign follows the closure of the old village post office in May and a council spending review which saw the re-location of the local library to a smaller location.

A fund-raising drive organised by locals, which was also backed by a council grant, means that instead of a vacant library, the community now has a new, community-run post office and local shop, which has created three jobs.

It is now hoped the facility will become home to a range of community groups, from pensioners' forums to mother and toddler sessions.

There are plans to create a drop-in centre, where anyone can sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee and meet friends, and to create a facility to be used by local charities and other groups.

There's even scope to use some of the former library as an exhibition space.

Paul Birch, chairman of 'the Bridge' charity set up to make it all happen, said: "The old post office closed in May, because the sub-postmaster didn't want to do it any more and nobody wanted to take it on. Our library was also moved into a smaller venue at the Cargill Hall and the council put this building on the market.

"The council offered us the old library building at a minimal rent, but we had to get it all together quite quickly."

The community raised the £20,000 in just a month, largely through leafleting local homes and appealing for donations. More than 100 people volunteered to help get the building ready to re-open as a post office, shop and community space.

That shows the strength of feeling," said Mr Birch. "If we hadn't been able to raise the money it would have shown there's no demand for what we wanted to do. It's been a big effort from a lot of people."

One of the people who will be running the newly re-opened post office is Susan Macdonald, who worked in the village's old post office for 10 years before it closed. She's keen to return to her old job.

Susan said: "The post office is an important part of the community. For a lot of the elderly people we serve, the transport out of Bridge of Weir isn't great, so this place will be a bit of a lifeline."

The old library building in Bridge of Weir was one of several council facilities to fall into disuse after a £75 million round of spending cuts forced the council to re-organise, and in some areas scale back the services it had previously provided.

When the council moved Bridge of Weir Library into the nearby Cargill Hall it spent £82,000 modernising facilities and buying in new stock, despite some local criticism of the plan.

But Councillor Allan Noon, Convener of Renfrewshire's Finance Policy Board, hailed the re-opening of the old library in its new role as an example of what communities can achieve.

He said: "Our aim was to work with the local community to find a viable use for the former library in Bridge of Weir.

"The council is very pleased to say that the financial assistance we have provided, in terms of an affordable rent and a LEADER grant – European rural grants for farm diversification, community projects and small businesses – has played a role in reinstating the Bridge of Weir Post Office, a vital local facility.

"Our congratulations go to Mr Birch and his colleagues for the drive and initiative shown in making this a reality."

LEADER is a programme that originated in Europe, and stands for Liaison entre actions de developpement rural – integrated action for rural development.

ewan.fergus@ eveningtimes.co.uk