The post office, based in the Spar supermarket on Granby Road, is set to close in September when the contract expires.

Post Office Ltd is now looking for a new retail premises in the town to take over the business.

Bakewell mayor Pam Russell said: "The post office is very important to Bakewell. We haven't got another in the town as we lost the one on Moorhall. This post office serves 21,000 people, including people from the nearby villages and rural areas."

She added: "Bakewell has a very high population of people over 65 and a lot of those people use the post office to collect their pensions as well as banking.

"I would certainly miss the post office if it did go and the businesses would miss it too."

Moorhall Post Office closed as part of the government cutbacks at the end of 2008 which also saw Edensor Post Office, on the Chatsworth estate, and Bonsall Post Office close.

A spokeswoman for SPAR said: "SPAR has chosen not to renew its contract with the Post Office in the Bakewell store, effective as of September 2010.

"It is understood that the Post Office will be seeking an alternative operator. Any Post Office staff affected by the move will be offered alternative employment."

The company would not give its reasons for its decision but added there were no plans for the SPAR store to close.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: "Our commercial partner operating this branch has confirmed they will not renew their franchise.

"As a result we are actively seeking a retail partner to take over the franchise from that date. We are now working in the community to identify potential applicants, and through the Matlock Mercury would also invite anyone interested to contact our agency recruitment team on 0845 601 6260."