Sacking of postmaster puts doubt on south Shropshire post of

[Biker Mouse]

A subpostmaster at a village post office has had his contract terminated by Royal Mail bosses – throwing the future of the service in south Shropshire into doubt.

Harbhajan Singh, who runs the post office counter at Clee Hill Stores, today said he intends to appeal against the decision.

Mr Singh was suspended by Royal Mail in November. It followed an internal audit and led to the counter being shut for several weeks.

The reasons behind the audit and the action taken against Mr Singh, who manages Clee Hill Stores, have not been disclosed.

Mr Singh today said: “I have received a letter from the Post Office telling me my contract will be terminated. I accept I have done something wrong but I intend to appeal.

“The post office will remain open at the store while the appeal is ongoing – I want to help the community and they have been very supportive of me.”

But fears have been raised for the future of the Clee Hill branch, and the village’s Shropshire councillor Richard Huffer has admitted there are few alternative spots for a post office counter.

Mr Huffer said: “The post office is still running under a temporary arrangement nd no-one knows what will happen in the near future.”

Mike Norman, spokesman for Post Office Limited, said: “We are committed to providing a Post Office service to our customers in Clee Hill.”



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