Deputy mayor vows to beat plan to sell Burnley Post Office

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A DEPUTY mayor has restated a campaign to save a town’s post office from franchise.

Burnley’s main branch in Hargreaves Street faces being sold off after the Post Office revealed its plans in February.

It is one of 76 crown post office branches from around the country earmarked to be franchised or closed by the organisation by the end of this year.

Coun Andy Tatchell, who is also a member of the Communications Workers’ Un-ion, which represents post office workers, has helped lead the fight against the plans in the town.



After gaining more than 5,000 petition signatures, Andy wants to hold a public meeting on July 2 to bolster opposition.

He said: “After several mon-ths of strong campaigning we are stepping up a gear.

“We want to let as many people as possible know what has been proposed by the Post Office because we believe that the more people who oppose it the less likely a company will be to buy the franchise.

“It would not make sense for a company to purchase something that is not wanted by the community. So far I have not found anyone who thinks that it is a good idea.”

Andy said that the quality and staffing could be placed under threat should the franc-hise go ahead.


He added: “The likelihood is that if it is sold off it will be reduced in size.

“It will form part of a larger business, such as a food shop.

“This would be a way to try to increase the profits of the company.

“This would mean that services are reduced and that the high quality training of staff that currently takes place in this branch would no longer be possible to continue to the same extent due to size limitations.”

The public meeting will be held at Burnley Mechanics on July 2, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.