Last September, elderly Haughley villagers were left facing a two-mile walk to collect their pensions after their 160-year-old post office was closed.

Since then, residents have been trying to find ways to reinstate the vital service and now a generous solicitor has come to their rescue.

Maxwell Charnley, who grew up in Haughley, has left more than £500,000 to Haughley parochial church council – which has decided to use the money to safeguard the post office's future.

Howard Stephens, treasurer for the parochial church council, said: "We have been fortunate enough to be given this money and wanted to use it for something that would benefit the community. The post office seemed the right choice as it has been sadly missed."

He said although Mr Charnley, a solicitor, moved away from Haughley, he had maintained close ties with the village up until his death 18 months ago.

On Sunday, parishioners were told the good news in St Mary's Church.

Pearl Wade, a Haughley resident for 44 years and a volunteer for Age Concern Link, said: "We are all really excited about it. Villagers will be thrilled to get back to using their own post office again because at the moment we are having to rely on each other to travel to Old Newton Post Office."

Claire Farrant, headteacher at Haughley Crawford's Primary School, said the school had always relied on the post office to do its banking.

She said: "It is a matter of convenience for us. We also used the post office for school projects for the children. This is good news for the village."

Kieron Palmer, who runs family bakery Palmers (Haughley) Ltd, said he welcomed the news as he had relied on the post office for banking.

Mr Palmer's great grandfather Alfred Woods ran the post office for 40 years from 1896 and it remained in the family until the 1970s.

He said: "This is fantastic, it is a lifeline for the community. The church should be commended for doing something so positive for the village."

The parochial church council is now in the final stages of buying the premises from former sub-postmistress Maureen Edwards, who retired last year.

The post office would be enlarged and a separate community room created for meetings and displaying village news.

Mr Stephens said: "The post office is in the heart of the village and this will help to bring the church into the community.

"Everyone is tremendously enthusiastic and, with several local post offices closing, we hope we can soon find someone to run ours."

A spokesman for Post Office Limited said Haughley Post Office was only temporarily closed and they would be advertising for a new sub-postmaster.

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