Post Office confirms Lewes closure plans

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/pos ... -1-7442415" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post Office Ltd has confirmed it will to close its Lewes Crown Post Office branch by the end of the year.

The company says it will close the current premises, which have been a Post Office for more than 100 years, by November 2016 and plans to move its counter services into the WHSmith in Cliffe High Street.

Post Office Ltd says has ruled out retaining the current premises but a six-week consultation will begin tomorrow (Wednesday, June 22) to consider proposed premises, accessibility or community issues surrounding the move.


Roger Gale general manager of the post office Crown network said: “We are committed to keeping our services on the high street which we know is hugely important to people. This proposal means we can continue to do that, into the future.

“Our customers will be offered the same range of services, with more convenient and longer opening hours, including Sundays.

“WHSmith already operates around 100 Post Office branches from their stores in the UK and we’ve been successfully working with them for nearly ten years. They have a proven record of running Post Offices with consistently high levels of customer service.

“We are making sure we take the right action to sustain services for years to come. We must adapt to the changing needs of our customers, who want a convenient and flexible choice of when and how they do business with us – whether that is face to face or on the web.

“We have to adapt so that we can maintain our presence on high streets and in the heart of communities, which we are determined to do,”


Save Lewes Crown Post Office, a campaign group which opposes moving the Post Office from its current premises on Cliffe High Street, have criticised the consultation process saying it is ignoring resident’s wider concerns.

The group says moving the post office from its current location will damage businesses and the local economy.

Campaigners are expected to deliver a petition calling on Post Office Ltd to stop the franchising of the Lewes branch to the business secretary Sajid Javid in Westminster on Wednesday. The petition has been signed by 4,331 people.

Speaking earlier this year campaign organiser Philippa Thompson criticised the consultation process.