Bolton to be wiped off postal map

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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BOLTON will lose its postmark when Farnworth mail centre closes next year.

All mail sent from the BL postcode area will be stamped with a Manchester postmark when the sorting office shuts down in 2010.

The move has sparked anger amongst politicians and campaigners, who say the loss of the postmark will further erode Bolton’s identity.

From next year, Bolton’s mail will be sorted in Manchester, and the Royal Mail says it would be too difficult to treat Bolton’s mail differently to the rest of Greater Manchester’s.

Brian Iddon, MP for Bolton South East, who has been campaigning against the closure of the sorting office, said the loss of the postmark would be a sad day for the town.

He said: “It will not go down well with the Bolton people. I’ve tried for about nine months to stop the closure and I’ve not succeeded.

“They’re adamant that it’s going to close, and it will be a sad day.”

Cllr John Walsh, leader of the Conservative group on Bolton Council, said it would be horrendous to replace Bolton’s postmark with Manchester’s.

He said: “We should campaign strongly against this, and I hope the council and other organisations will fight to stop it.

“It’s bad enough losing Bolton, Lancashire, but to lose Bolton itself would be horrendous.”

The Friends of Real Lancashire said the move would be a further erosion of Bolton’s identity, and urged Boltonians to continue writing Lancashire in their address.

Chris Dawson, chairman of Friends of Real Lancashire, said: “I can see that the people of Bolton will not be happy about this.

“It’s bad enough being accused of living in a place called Greater Manchester, and that is something that really irks people. It looks as though they live in Manchester, but they don’t.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said the decision to change was necessary to improve efficiency and was reached after months of consultation.

He said: “This means that stamped mail posted in the BL postcode area will be stamped with a Manchester postmark.

“The change is intended to improve our operational efficiency. It would be impractical to process BL items differently from other mail passing through the Manchester mail centre. Quality of service for our customers will be maintained.”

[norbert]

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they'll love that , there's no love lost between there and Manchester or Man U for that matter , to be fair it would be difficult to deal with BL1-7 differently