Lynne Featherstone MP and Richard Barker, of the Royal Mail, with the results of the five-month long Post Office survey
RESIDENTS are forced to queue for up to an hour as the true cost of axing half of Haringey's post offices is revealed.
And elderly and disabled customers are put off shopping at the branches because of a lack of seating according to a five-month survey by Lynne Featherstone into customer waiting times.
Now post office bosses have vowed to boost staff numbers and improve seating in three branches.
The MP for Hornsey and Wood Green said: "Queues at Wood Green are especially bad, and at least now they are getting some more staff.
"The other issue that was especially clear from the survey was that many elderly residents simply don't go to the shops, as they can't sit down and queue."
Wood Green post office had a maximum waiting time of 60 minutes and recorded queues as long as 56 customers.
Muswell Hill came second in the queueing league table, with highs of 50 minutes and 22 customers queuing.
The average waiting time across all six branches - also including Crouch End, Stroud Green, Archway and Topsfield Parade - was 12 minutes.
The survey was launched in September after residents were outraged at excessively long queues following six sub-post office closures.
The borough-wide cull was the result of a Royal Mail closure programme which saw 151 London outlets close despite more than 27,000 objection letters citywide.
Richard Barker, of Royal Mail, pledged three more staff at Wood Green and promised to provide more chairs in branches in Wood Green, Crouch End and Muswell Hill when they are refurbished.
A Post Office spokesman said: "We are monitoring all aspects of our customer service with an aim to improving service, and will be reviewing the results of this survey.
"The crown post offices in Muswell Hill and Wood Green will be refurbished this summer to offer a new and improved queuing system and enhanced customer service.
