Fury as Post Office chiefs refuse to accept petition

12:33am Monday 3rd March 2008

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THE Lancashire Telegraph went to Post Office headquarters to hand-in petitions totalling more than 1,500 signatures.

But senior managers refused to personally accept the documents.

Councillors and campaign leaders have branded the actions of Post Office chiefs "disgusting" and vowed to fight on to save the 24 branches threatened with closure in East Lancashire.

With 623 people pledging their support for the Telegraph's Save Our Post Offices campaign, we headed for the Post Office customer care centre at Brampton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, on Friday.

Armed with a further 934 signatures from Dall Street Residents Association, Burn-ley, opposing the proposed closure of the Parliament Street branch, we were met with driving rain and strong winds but no Post Office managers.

The customer care centre is housed within a Royal Mail building and the petitions, which showed the depth of feeling within East Lancashire to the closures, had to be left with a receptionist.

Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: "I would like to congratulate the Telegraph on the wonderful job it has done to collate people's opposition to the closures.

"I think it is absolutely disgusting that the Post Office will not accept a petition when for many people it is their way of venting their anger against the people concerned. If they weren't prepared to acknow-ledge this, why did they ask for people's opinions at the beginning?"

Today marks the end of a six-week public consultation into the proposed closures which the Post Office hopes will reduce the £4million-a-week it is losing.

A Post Office spokesman said: "The review process now starts in earnest and we have to make sure we are confident that our proposals to close a particular office is appropriate."

Throughout the process, however, the attitude of the Post Office has angered many, in particular its claims that petitions "held no weight" when it came to influencing whether or not to close a branch.

Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Colin Rigby, who meets Post Offices executives at Blackburn Town Hall today, said: "People rely on the post office, but the consultation process has been brought in with little or no thought over people's wishes or needs."

Conservative MP Nigel Evans, whose Ribble Valley constituency is threatened by three closures, has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons protest-ing against the closures.

He said: "I will continue to fight these proposed closures."

Karen Heseltine, of Dall Street Residents Association, Burnley, said: "They have been too blasé and while I just hope they listen to our pleas, I fear they won't."