A MUCH-needed village sub-post office and store in Liss could close as early as next spring after its sub-postmistress blamed the Government for changing the goalposts which has stopped her finding a new buyer.

Penny Edmund-White, 65, who has run Liss Forest Stores and Post Office in Forest Road for almost 10 years, says she now "wants to retire".

"I've got grandchildren and realise that life is too short, but we are being held over a barrel," claimed Mrs Edmund-White.

The new rules say that unless she finds a buyer before the end of the year any new owner would lose a government subsidy of £10,500 a year – called a core tier payment – if they in turn were to sell the business on in the future.

Mrs Edmund-White also claims that the business is no longer viable, with not enough people supporting the village facility.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.