POST OFFICE CLOSURES - ALL POST OFFICES UNDER THREAT DURING REVIEW

6.43.20pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 10th Aug 2007

Following a meeting between Postwatch, Post Office and local councils Jonathan Chatfield the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for South East Cambridgeshire has written to Post Office Limited to complain that the way it plans to consult on post office closures will cause widespread anguish - particularly for the elderly and local businesses.

The Post Office has told consumer watchdog Postwatch that once it has finalised its plans it will split the UK into 50-60 review areas, publicly consulting on its proposals for each review area on a rolling basis.

It is only during each of these public consultations that customers will learn about Post Office Limited's proposals for any particular area. Once the proposals for an area are unveiled, customers will have six weeks to respond with their thoughts to Post Office Limited.

For example, there are 11 post offices in Ely and the surrounding villages and under these consultation plans currently all are under threat of closure until Post Office Limited gets around to consulting on the Ely area.

Jonathan Chatfield says:

"Post Office customers are already concerned to know if their local post office is under threat. It's intolerable that Post Office Limited is to keep communities in the dark as they pick them off one by one across the country.

"The Government has to step in and take charge of this process, before it causing widespread anguish, particularly to those who most depend upon their local post office.

"We should be defending our local Post Offices not undermining them. Unfortunately this Government and the Tory one before it has actively undermined the network and reduced the Post Office's financial viability.

"Post Offices are an important part of our communities. The services they provide help those who cannot access traditional banking and those who may not be able to travel as far as a supermarket or be able to use or want to use the Internet.

"Loss of a Post Office also puts other small businesses in jeopardy. Many cannot afford to survive when the high street loses its Post Office."