In the News - Post Office

Post Office closures threatens 1,000 local shops

The plans to close 2,500 post offices may cause the closure of over 1,000 local shops. On Wednesday the House of Commons will vote on the decision to close the post offices. The Post Office says that if local shops want to receive full compensation for the post office closure, they must not offer any competing services for 1 year. This includes services such as selling lottery tickets, offering bill payment services, private mail and courier services and foreign currency exchange. It is thought that this will cause many local shops to close to the detriment of local communities. Co-op the operator of 2,200 shops across the UK, 500 of which have post offices have strongly criticised the measure.

The news follows the Government announcement of it support for County Councils that wish to take over closing post offices (reported 'In the News' 12 March 2008).

List of post offices under threat

(Sources: Telegraph.co.uk 1 Telegraph.co.uk 2)

Posted by Plebble Admin at 09:52 on 17-Mar-2008