Time To Deliver - Help us improve Bridgwater's post office

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TODAY the Bridgwater Mercury is calling on the people of the town to unite behind a clear message to bosses at Post Office Ltd - the temporary post office in Bridgwater is a disgrace.

For six months the people of Bridgwater have been forced to queue for their stamps and pensions in what amounts to little more than a static caravan in a featureless car park.

With bosses at Post Office Ltd preparing to start a programme of improvements to branches across the country, our message is that Bridgwater should be top of the list, so now it is TIME TO DELIVER.

Speaking exclusively to the Mercury as we launch our campaign, Bridg-water MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has branded the existing temporary office a “disgrace” and offered to hand-deliver a petition to Downing Street if required.

With major developments in Bridgwater booming, including a new nuc-lear power station at Hinkley Point, the Morrisons depot by the M5 and, as we report this week, the arrival of a new police HQ, now is the time for Post Office Ltd to act and deliver a facility fit for our town.

SHOPPERS in Bridgwater have had enough of queuing for their post office services in a temporary building in a car park.

That was the loud and clear message from the people of the town the Mercury spoke to this week as we launch our ‘Time To Deliver’ campaign to put pressure on Post Office Ltd to find a permanent home for the service.

Post Office Ltd spokesman Mike Norman said it has not yet decided which branches will be first in line for upgrades – an announcement is expected this summer.

He said: “We are committed to providing a Post Office service for the community and we are looking for a long-term solution.”

Bridgwater MP Ian Liddell-Grainger told the Mercury: “I think it’s disgraceful that a town the size of Bridgwater, with 30,000 residents, does not have a post office.

“I have written to the chief executive of the Post Office and formally complained to the Government. It’s simply not acceptable.

“I am sick to death of being treated like a second class citizen along with my constituents in the Bridgwater area.

“It’s abominable that it should be in a caravan in a car park.”

The main post office in Bridgwater has been in the car park in Northgate since September after the branch in Angel Place Shopping Centre closed down.

Sedgemoor District Council leader Duncan McGinty said action needed to be taken to provide Bridgwater with a permanent solution.

He said: “It’s like we are in limbo because we are neither open or closed. The Post Office nationally does seem to be dragging its feet in finding a new site. I’m upset it seems to be taking so long when Bridgwater clearly deserves better than a portable building in a car park.”

Shopper Susan Durkin, who was visiting the town from Burnham, said they had a ‘proper’ Post Office there and it was ‘scandalous’ Bridgwater did not.

She said: “A proper Post Office makes a real difference and I think it’s what this town needs. For a big historic town like Bridgwater, with tens of thousands of residents living here, having a portable cabin like this is scandalous.”

To add your name to our petition, visit our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/204964429602329/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Alternatively, pop into our reception at the Royal Clarence House York Buildings in Bridgwater to sign a paper copy.