Royal Mail centres across Watford under threat

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The future of Royal Mail delivery centres across south-west Hertfordshire could be under threat.

The postal company is conducting a review of its mail processing and some delivery operations in Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage.

This is expected to see processing work from Watford's Ascot Road centre moved to a brand new 260,000 square foot warehouse in Hemel Hempstead and satellite delivery offices brought in to fill the space.

Trevor Flowers, chairman of the Watford branch of the Communication Workers' Union, based at Watford's Ascot Road delivery office, said: “We know there will be delivery centre closures but we don't know which ones.

“The review is going on across the country. Mail volumes are dropping so they're going to need fewer mail centres and that means fewer people. Undoubtedly there will be redundancies.”

A Royal Mail representative said "We are reviewing our mail processing and some mail delivery operations in Hemel Hempstead, Watford and Stevenage as we need to respond to the huge growth in electronic communications and the resulting decline in overall mail volumes.

"The review is being undertaken on the basis of a national agreement reached earlier this year between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union which was endorsed by postmen and women in a national ballot. We are fully consulting with our people and our trade unions as we develop and evaluate proposals.

"It is therefore too soon to say what the operational changes will be."

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