Mail delivery office is facing closure:DROITWICH

[POSTMAN]

http://www.droitwichstandard.co.uk/stor ... 47415.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DROITWICH’S Royal Mail delivery office could be set to close as part of the company’s bid to cut costs across the Midlands.

Royal Mail has put forward proposals for the office at The Furlongs on the Berry Hill Industrial Estate to be shut, with the services moving into the current Worcester Mail Centre on Wainwright Road which will also act as a vehicle service centre.

Worcester’s delivery office on Westbury Street could also close as part of the proposals unveiled on Wednesday (July 13).

The 40 members of staff at the Droitwich office and the 70 employees at Worcester’s delivery office are all expected to be offered the chance to relocate to Wainwright Road.

The plans are the latest bid in a long-running debate over the service’s future in the county which could also see Droitwich and Worcester’s post sorted in Birmingham.

Postal chiefs hope to cut the number of people it employs in the Midlands by 550 in response to a decline in the number of letters being sent across the country.

Paul Jobling, regional operations director Royal Mail Midlands, said: “Royal Mail’s modernisation programme, which is vital to ensuring a successful future for the letters and parcels business, depends on having the right number of people in our business, as well as deploying the right technology and equipment.”

The Standard had previously reported how the Communication Workers Union members had met to consider its
response to the proposed closure of Worcester’s sorting office.

Worcestershire branch secretary Brendon Allen said he still hoped their concerns would be listened to.

“We gave Royal Mail some alternatives for other work which could be done at Wainwright Road, and we are still hopeful.

“They seemed quite interested in what we had put forward, but we will have to wait and see because the consultation on
the preferred option does not end until September,” he added.