Residents ‘devastated’ at closure of town post office

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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People living near a post office in Northampton say they are “gutted” at its closure after 50 years of serving customers.

Semilong Post Office is set to close on September 25, due to the retirement of the subpostmaster, leaving staff hoping a buyer will still come forward to save the business.

Post office manager, Suresh Shah, said: “We have been expecting this for some time because there’s not enough business, but we’re gutted. If we could put up the money for the business ourselves we would, not just for us, but for the community because it’s a community building.”

Staff at the post office, some of who have worked there for almost 25 years, would be made redundant.

Jan Sanson, manager at Bubbles, a nearby laundrette in Semilong Road, said: “Everybody around here is devastated about it. It’s been around such a long time and it’s a shame to see it go.

“Now people will have to travel into town or Kingsthorpe and not all elderly people can do that, especially if they haven’t got a vehicle.”

Semilong resident Diane Bradley said: “I’m a pensioner and I collect my money from the post office.

“I usually take out what I need because I feel vulnerable walking around with it in my pocket.

“I am lucky that I can make the trip into town because there are plenty who can’t.”

Councillor Sarah Uldall (LibDem, St George), said she received a letter from the Post Office Ltd stating the closure was “temporary” and that they were investigating the options available to enable them to reinstate a service into the community.

She said: “I would like to see an entrepreneur come along and buy it because it’s a special part of the community and has been a landmark for a long time.

“I’d like to see it saved because, if it goes, it would be really missed.”

[NWpostie]

Given the recent cases of Sub Postmasters working with faulty Horizon system add the falling revenue from Postal service with switch to online banking by the Government, auditors racking potentially innocent Postmaster over the coals as per recent articles about the botched Horizon program and holes in the account caused thereof, I would steer well away from taking on something like this.