Aerial photograph of Barnard Castle
Price:£7.99
Post Office closures confirmed
May 14, 2008
RESIDENTS in villages throughout the dale will have to go the extra mile for their pensions, stamps and other services after the Post Office confirmed it will be permanently closing six local branches.
The Teesdale sub post offices affected by the decision, which is part of the organisation's ‘modernisation' programme, are Bolam, Boldron, Hutton Magna, Romaldkirk, Toft Hill and Winston.
The sub postmistress of Toft Hill, Sheila Mulgrew, said: "I'm just glad that they have finally made the decision one way or another. We have been in limbo since early on in the year.
"It's sad that after all these years I won't be doing this job any more but I never thought they would change their minds."
Workers at the sub post offices were told back in February that the branches faced closure but hopes were kept alive that a six-week consultation period would earn them a reprieve.
Throughout the consultation process, the Post Office said it attended meetings to understand the concerns of customers and representatives to ensure that all information provided by them formed part of the final decision regarding each affected branch.
But despite 2,590 responses from customers, and backing from local councillors, the first of the doomed sub-post offices are due to start closing at the end of June.
Speaking about the decision, MP Helen Goodman, said: "I am obviously very disappointed by this announcement, and have raised my concerns and those of my constituents with the Minister of State for Postal Affairs (Pat McFadden)."
Paul Ryman, district councillor for Etherley, which covers Toft Hill, said: "I am bitterly disappointed by the decision. Not just for Toft Hill but for all of the areas that have been affected by this decision."
Cllr Ryman also criticised what he called Mrs Goodman's lack of consistency in the fight to keep the sub-post offices open, saying she had failed her constituents by voting with the Government against a Conservative motion which could have delayed the closures.
Full story and more reaction in this week's Mercury