Negotiations ongoing to reopen Peterborough post office

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A Peterborough Post Office which has been shut since July is not to close permanently, according to Peterborough City Council’s cabinet.

The cabinet received a petition on Monday signed by 170 people which was handed in by Heather Skibsted. It requested that the Post Office based at Herlington in Orton Malborne not be closed.

But the cabinet also heard from Cllr Irene Walsh, who has the Post Office in her ward. She said: “The Post Office is only temporarily closed pending an agreement with a new postmaster.

“I was so concerned about this temporary closure because it serves 2,000 homes, with most of the 3,500 people who live there being elderly and not able to get to another more distant office.

“I contacted Peterborough MP Shailesh Vara, and he spoked to Post Office Ltd who confirmed that they are in negotiation with potential postmasters to keep the Post Office at Herlington open.”

Cllr David Seaton said: “It is also untrue – as was reported in the newspapers – that the previous postmaster resigned because the rates were too high.

“In fact the complete opposite is the case, the council reduced the rates on the Post Office and he only left the job because he has now retired.

“The Post Office have no intention of closing any local Post Offices, but instead want to pass onto locals that they intend to invest heavily in Post Office outlets which they describe as ‘the largest market for mortgages, currency exchange, gift cards and insurance in the country – much bigger than any banking chain’.”

The cabinet made note of the petition, but elected to do nothing at the moment pending the outcome of the negotiations by the Post Office to find a new postmaster.