Six post offices are threatened with axe

8:46am Wednesday 20th February 2008

SIX Enfield post offices could close following plans for a UK-wide cull.

Government plans to axe 169 post offices across the capital mean that six in Enfield, stretching from Edmonton to Hadley Wood, could be lost.

Conservative MP for Southgate David Burrowes, launched a Save Our Post Office campaign yesterday outside the threatened Clock House Parade Post Office in Palmers Green.

And he said the closure of that sub-post office would be a devastating blow to the local community.

Mr Burrowes said: "(The closures are) a direct result of the Government giving up on local post offices.

"Rather than find solutions which would bring new business to sub-post offices, the Government is just managing the demise of the local post office."

Kanshik Lakhani, who has owned his newsagent for 19 years, says the post office there contributes 60 per cent of his weekly takings, and is used by 900 people per week.

He said that the closure would make his business hard to sustain: Mr Lakhani said: "It will be very, very difficult. There is a lot of competition - there's a newsagent just around the corner. We do not get enough customers."

London Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson, who kick-started his post office campaign trail with a visit to the premises in Clock House Parade, said: "Mr Lakhani is obviously running a very important business.

"People value it, they trust it, they know it. We need to keep post offices as close to people as possible. If you take away a post office then we risk ripping the heart out of the high street."

Mr Johnson, who handed out I love Boris' stickers to protestors acknowleged that some people now prefer to go online than to visit a post office to pay bills.

But he added: "This isn't the case with older people who are going to suffer. Once we lose a post office it never comes back."

Labour MP Joan Ryan said she was deeply unhappy about the plans which would see three post offices close in her Enfield North constituency.

She said: "A lot of people rely on these post offices and I have demanded a meeting with senior Post Office management which is taking place tomorrow (Thursday)."

Closures are planned for post offices in Clock House Parade, Palmers Green; Crescent West, Hadley Wood; Town Road, Edmonton; Chase Side, Enfield; Hertford Road, Enfield and Green Street, Enfield - all areas where between ten and 20 per cent of the population is retired.

London Assembly Labour member Joanne McCartney said she that was extremely disappointed with the closures outlined in the Post Office Network Change Programme.

She said: "I am especially concerned that access criteria designed to protect vulnerable customers in remote or deprived urban areas could rise from half a mile to a mile."

Pensioner Agnes O'Malley, who had a heart bypass four years ago, said it took her 15 minutes to walk to the sub-post office in Palmers Green, three times the time it took her granddaugher.

And she added: "Look how far we have got to go to get to the other post offices."

A representative for the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) said that the closures in London would make it harder for Enfield's 44,000 pensioners to draw their pensions from post offices.

He said the closure of 11 crown post offices (those directly managed by Post Office Ltd) across London would mean 170 jobs are lost, while the closure of the 169 sub-post offices across the capital would lead to the loss of several thousand jobs.

A six-week public consultation has now opened where local residents are invited to give their views on the Network Change Programme.

That follows an announcement from the Government in May revealing that 2,500 post offices across the country would be closed, with the services at 500 branches reprovided through "outreach-type service points".

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said that the closure of a branch might be reconsidered if they felt "there was a strong enough case" to do so.

Mr Johnson, who handed out I love Boris' stickers to protestors, acknowleged that some people now prefer to go online than to visit a post office to pay bills.

But he added: "This isn't the case with older people who are going to suffer. Once we lose a post office it never comes back."

Labour MP Joan Ryan said she was unhappy with the plans which will see three post offices close in her Enfield North constituency.

She said: "A lot of people rely on these post offices and I've demanded a meeting with senior Post Office management which is taking place tomorrow (Thursday)."

Closures are planned for post offices in Clock House Parade, Palmers Green; Crescent West, Hadley Wood; Town Road, Edmonton; Chase Side, Enfield; Hertford Road, Enfield and Green Street, Enfield - all areas where between ten and 20 per cent of the population is retired.

London Assembly Labour member Joanne McCartney said she that was extremely disappointed with the closures outlined in the Post Office Network Change Programme.

She said: "I am especially concerned that access criteria designed to protect vulnerable customers in remote or deprived urban areas could rise from half a mile to a mile."

Pensioner Agnes O'Malley, who had a heart bypass four years ago, said it took her 15 minutes to walk to the Palmers Green post office, three times as long as her granddaughter, She added: "Look how far we have got to go to get to the other post offices."

A representative for the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) said that the closures would make it harder for Enfield's 44,000 pensioners to draw their pensions from post offices.

He said the closure of 11 Crown post offices (those directly managed by Post Office Ltd) across London would mean 170 jobs are lost, while the closure of the 169 sub-post offices across the capital would lead to the loss of several thousand jobs.

A six-week public consultation has now opened where local residents are invited to give their views on the Network Change Programme.

That follows an announcement from the Government in May revealing that 2,500 post offices across the country would be closed, with the services at 500 branches reprovided through "outreach-type service points".

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said that the closure of a branch might be reconsidered if they felt "there was a strong enough case" to do so.

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