Campaigners have vowed to continue their fight to keep Melksham’s Post Office, following calls for further strike action by workers.

Seven staff at the Crown Post Office in Church Street joined thousands of other union members across the country in staging a day-long walkout on Saturday.

The Melksham office is one of 70 across the country being considered for relocation into a shop environment.

Chris Roche, of the Comm-unications Workers’ Union, which orchestrated the strike, said: “We had a number of people who came up to show their support.

“We had a petition with us and, in just an hour-and-a-half, we got a couple of hundred signatures. There will be further bouts of industrial action and we will continue with our campaign.”

About 20 protesters were involved in the 90-minute demonstration outside the post office at 10.30am, including mayor Chris Petty.

He said: “We want to keep the Post Office in Melksham; we wouldn’t want it stuffed down the back of some shop somewhere. We are starting to get major national and international companies coming into Melksham and I think if it went into a small shop the services it offers would suffer.”

Kevin Gilliland, network and sales director for the Post Office, said: “Crown branches are losing £40m per year and this is being subsidised by public money. We are committed to remaining a key part of UK high streets.”