Post office services to be drastically reduced

12:54pm Thursday 7th February 2008

ONE post office in the north Cotswolds faces the chop and a number of other villages are due to receive drastically reduced services, it was announced this week.

The proposed closure of Weston-sub-Edge post office and the introduction of "outreach services" in Blockley, Longborough, Guiting Power, Temple Guiting and Stanway, have sparked a wave of protest from villagers and local politicians.

Cotswolds MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown is urging local people to attend a series of public meetings in some of the worst-affected areas on Friday and Saturday to discuss the effects of the move, which is part of the Post Office's commitment to shutting 2,500 post offices across the country.

"We need to work as a community to respond to the challenges put before us by these announcements. Cotswolds residents showed their unity of purpose and strength of character during the summer floods and we must now work together again," said Mr Clifton-Brown.

Cotswold District Council leader Lynden Stowe said the proposals would sever a lifeline in the district's rural communities.

"This is yet another example of vital services for rural communities coming under attack from the Government," said Cllr Stowe.

Weston-sub-Edge postmistress Valerie Kemp, who has run the tiny post office in a converted garage for 13 years, said: "It's very sad for the village as it's another nail in the coffin for village life. On the other hand, the proposed closure hasn't come as a surprise and I'm reconciled to reality.

"I have loyal support from a number of villagers but, to be honest, that doesn't make a viable business." Apart from the closure of the post office at Weston-sub-Edge, other post offices in the north Cotswolds will receive reduced services in the form of outreach services at set times a week.

Blockley, where the current postmaster is selling up and local residents have formed a co-operative to set up a village shop and café, will receive 14 hours of outreach services a week; Longborough will receive nine hours; Guiting Power eight hours; and Temple Guiting two hours a week. It is also proposed Stanway will receive an outreach service, as will Great Rollright near Chipping Norton.

Chris Jury, chairman of the newly-formed Blockley Co-operative Association, said that members met a post office representative on Tuesday to discuss how the outreach service could work.

"We can provide a lot of post services when they are not there anyway. When they are there they actually provide all services of a main post office," said Mr Jury.

Harry Taylor, chairman of the community-owned shop in Longborough, said the move to providing an outreach service was "a precursor to closure".

"The post office will close, which in effect threatens the whole existence of our village shop," said Mr Taylor, who has organised a public meeting in the village hall on Monday 6 Continued on page 2

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