Post Offices, Going, Going, Gone - Brake and Burstow

11.08.21am GMT Tue 12th Feb 2008

Tom Brake MP for Carshalton and Wallington and Paul Burstow MP for Sutton and Cheam met senior Royal Mail and Post Office officials in Westminster last week to discuss the impact of Government-driven plans to close 2,500 Post Offices around the country. These closures follow the 3,500 closed previously under the Conservatives and 4,000 already shut under Labour.

Commenting after the meeting, Tom Brake said,

"The Post Offices took a real hammering here in Sutton Borough a few years ago. This looks like the second wave of closures. They will have a disproportionate impact on the elderly and people with disabilities who find it hardest to travel to a Post Office further away."

Paul Burstow continued "The Government have decreed that 2,500 Post Offices must close. All Post Office Ltd are doing is checking to see if they've got the right ones. This is not a genuine consultation. Nevertheless, it is vital that we don't let any closure go ahead without a fight."

In his closing remarks Tom said, "The real villain of the piece is the Government which has failed to provide critical investment in the network and lacked the imagination to provide Post Offices with other commercial opportunities to expand their business and increase turnover."

The Post Office starts its official consultation on their closure programme on February 19th 2008. Details of the Post Offices under threat of closure in the London Borough of Sutton will be available on the Post Office website from the 19th February onwards.