Fears over closure plan for Crumlin sorting office

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THE ROYAL Mail has assured local customers that any changes it makes will have a minimal affect on them following news of the closure of Crumlin's Sorting Office.

Councillor Anne Marie Logue said that she was 'appalled' that Royal Mail would consider closing the office and called on them to reconsider.

"The closing of Crumlin Sorting Office would have a wide and detrimental impact on staff and the local area" she said. "Staff would be transferred to Lisburn which would prove difficult for many of them as they live locally and public transport between Crumlin and Lisburn is non-existent. To arrange transport for the hours that postal workers start would also prove difficult which could have an impact on jobs.

"Further to this it would be yet another service that Crumlin will close. The town is ranked highly in official statistics as being under resourced in terms of access to services and this would further impact.

"Such a pull out would see footfall in the town decrease impacting on local businesses as well."

A spokeperson for Royal Mail said: "We understand that this is a period of uncertainty for our postmen and women in Crumlin but are keen to stress that no jobs are at risk and that no final decisions have been aken as to a new location or on the timescales involved.

"Our priorities will be to ensure that any move has only very minimal impact on our customers and that we support our employees through the relocation process. We are of course keeping staff fully informed of any developments."