Residents of Point Royal in Easthampstead have been left without a vital service after a local Co-op store's PayPoint service has been out of operation for six weeks.

A resident, Mr A Welsh said: "The Co-op store at 5 Rectory Row has, for the past 6 weeks, been telling customers that its PayPoint service is waiting to be repaired."

This has been increasingly inconvenient for nearly 200 residents who depend on the service to buy electricity via a key for their meters.

In an interesting twist, Mr Welsh said: "Upon contacting PayPoint myself, they tell me the store has had the service removed."

Many locals have been confused about the situation.

A spokesperson from the Co-op, however, assured: "I can confirm we are not removing this service."

Responding to claims, the spokesperson provided some information.

They said that the Rectory Row Co-op offers Pay Station, a service which replaced PayPoint five years ago and confirmed it will not remove this service.

The spokesperson also addressed the ongoing issue and promised resolution soon.

They said: "Due to technical issues, the existing Pay Station unit needs to be replaced and we’re working hard to resume service with a new unit as soon as possible."

The supermarket's representative finally apologised for the inconvenience caused.

The Co-op caters to hundreds of residents who use PayPoint for a variety of purposes.