Protest against St Leonards post office '˜closure' plans

Kay Avery-Stallion, owner of St Leonards Modern Goods, Helen Robinson, owner of SHOP, artist Oska Lappin and Mole Meade, the Communication Workers’ Union’s area representative for the south east, have organised the event outside the branch in London Road from 10am to noon.

Kay said: “I use the Crown Post Office almost daily, not only to send out mail order orders for my business but to keep in touch with what’s happening locally.

“In a deprived coastal town like ours, the Crown Post Office is a vital service that provides a social service to those who need to collect a wide variety of benefits and credits, as well as pensions and banking services for those without a traditional bank account and access/knowledge of computers.

“It’s not OK to close it down and then for another retailer to open up a kiosk or sub-post office version somewhere else in St Leonards. They will not provide all the services that are a lifeline to so many in this town.”

Post Office Ltd first revealed its plans in July to replace or relocate directly-run Crown branches in 20 locations, St Leonards being one of them. Roger Gale, general manager of the Post Office Crown Network, said: “Some Crown branches are continuing to grow profitably but others cannot do so due factors such rising rents, changing town centres or other local circumstances. We need to adapt our approach so we can secure access to our services in these areas for the long term.

“By working with partners to locate Post Office branches with other retail businesses we can keep branches at the heart of communities, providing services for our customers cost-effectively and often with the benefit of longer opening hours.”

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