Supermarket chain Safeway revealed it will shut its Borehamwood store and petrol station on October 17 due to "unsatisfactory levels of trade" in a shock announcement on Monday.

The company said around 130 staff will lose their jobs at Boulevard 25 -- but assured residents it will continue to run the town's main post office on the site until March next year.

A spokeswoman said the decision was "not taken lightly" and did not reflect on staff performance, but she admitted stiff competition from Tesco in Shenley Road was a factor.

She said as many workers as possible would be "redeployed" to four neighbouring stores, but she would not say exactly how many could be retained and admitted some would be unable or unwilling to move.

As rumours of closure spread this week, many residents contacted the Borehamwood Times to find out if their town of 30,000 people would suddenly be left without a main post office. But post chiefs moved quickly to reassure residents that Safeway is contract-bound to keep its doors open until the spring.

"We are determined that we will maintain services at the present location until the contract expires," he said. "And after that we are confident we will find a new partner, possibly at a different site."

Safeway's spokeswoman said its 12 Post Office staff would stay on at the site while the company worked with Boulevard 25 managers to find new tenants for Unit 3 and the filling station.

Retail park boss Bernard Davy of Great Portland Estates said there was no question the site would stand empty.

He said his company and Safeway were in talks with at least two national retailers, keen to seize the opportunity to trade to Borehamwood people.

Mr Davy said while he was disappointed to lose a tenant, the closure was an opportunity to radically alter the layout of the site -- which has warehouse space no longer needed by stores with advanced stock-control systems.

Safeway's decision could boost plans to bring a bus terminal into Boulevard 25 direct from Shenley Road.

He added new Government controls on out-of-town shopping centres meant the site was more than ever a prime location.

But some shoppers who contacted the Borehamwood Times this week said the closure was bad news for many people who found it hard to travel to Tesco.

One woman said Safeway was a "nice size store to get around" and Tesco was too big for many older people.

The whole point of having the Post Office inside Safeway, one man said, was that people could buy their groceries, pay bills and collect allowances at the same place.

Some shoppers blamed local management for the closure, claiming that the store was poor in terms of stock availability and check-out waiting times.

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