MP hails town's victory as Royal Mail halts closure

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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PLANS to close a Royal Mail sorting office in east Cleveland have been scrapped after a community campaign.

The Royal Mail said in June it would move the Guisborough office to Redcar as part of an efficiency drive.

However, that led to fears there would be a poorer service and that people and businesses would have to make a ten-mile round trip to collect parcels.

A petition, sponsored by the Communication Workers Union, was signed by more than 5,000 people and presented to Parliament by Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Tom Blenkinsop. A protest rally was also held and Guisborough Football Club sponsored a match for the cause.

Royal Mail's North-East operations director, Alison Wright, said: "Since the announcement, we have been undertaking detailed planning ahead of the move.

"As part of this process, we constantly review our original plans against a very challenging economic and operational climate. As a result, we have concluded that the various benefits of this move are no longer as significant as initially anticipated."

Mr Blenkinsop said he was jubilant that Royal Mail had changed its mind.

The Labour MP said: "I have now been told via the Communication Workers Union, who have been contacted by local management, that the depot is now safe.

"There was an huge uproar in the town when the original closure proposal was tabled.

"Local people and businesses were rightly concerned that this would mean a poorer mail service for the town, and that they would be faced with a long two-way trip to and from Redcar to pick up undelivered parcels.

"At the same time, the dedicated team of workers at the centre feared, at worst, for their jobs and their quality of their working life if they were to be transferred away from their home depot.

"What was striking about this battle was the way it united the town. This is a victory for Guisborough."

[Lincox]

So people power had nothing to do with this then Alison?