Post office closure threat lifted for some - but not all

CAMPAIGNERS have received a boost after the apparent partial reprieve of several threatened Devon post offices.

Post Office Ltd has released its revised list of branch closures in Devon and revealed that branches including Exeter's Queen Street, Offwell near Honiton, and Millwey Rise at Axminster will be subject to further review and a further six-week consultation.

However, other postmasters have learned they have not been so successful and must now close.

A total of 37 branches will still close — two branches in Torquay will now stay open although the counters at Abbotskerswell and Moreleigh in South Devon are now earmarked for closure, despite not being on the original list — while branches including Bridestow, Shebbear, Lustleigh and Widecombe in the Moor will also be subject to further review. The closures start in August.

According to Post Office Ltd, the closures will see Devon's remaining network of 333 branches meet Government criteria to ensure more than 99 per cent of residents will either see no change or will remain within one mile of an alternative branch. Hannah Foster, the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Exeter, who helped lead the campaign to save the Queen Street branch, said: “We expect to hear the decision in about two weeks but we are very relieved we have a review.”

A massive protest was launched in Offwell which saw placard-waving demonstrators take to the streets.

Offwell's postmistress Helen Garwood said: “We're so relieved, but the champagne is still on ice until the end result is known.”

Devon County Council has strongly opposed the closures, which are part of a cost-cutting plan.

Brian Berman, the authority's executive member for communities, said: “Clearly, we are disappointed that Post Office Ltd has not decided to keep open many of their proposed closures in Devon, although we are pleased that two post offices in Torbay will remain open.

“We will, in the course of this new round of consultation, be negotiating hard for the service to remain unchanged.”

Don Arscott, who campaigned to retain his St Andrew's Road post office in Exmouth, learned his efforts had been unsuccessful yesterday.

He said: “There was no chance I was going to be allowed to remain operating, despite the hard-fought campaign to save it from closing.

“Posters will now go up telling customers our closure date — September 4.”

East Devon MP Hugo Swire said: “I regret the closures of St Andrew's Road, Exmouth, and Greenway Lane at Budleigh Salterton.

“I think this decision will cause a lot of people in those communities to be greatly inconvenienced, especially as both these areas have a large number of elderly residents.

East Devon District Council leader Sara Randall Johnson added: “We are saddened at losing four post office branches in the district. We will do all we can to support services at Millwey Rise and Offwell.”

Exeter city councillor Rob Hannaford said: “Exeter is still suffering from the last serious wave of post office closures in 2004.

“This is highlighted in the comments from Postwatch that confirm many of the remaining post offices in Exeter are extremely busy.”