West Butterwick folk short of cash at PO has broadband probs

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West Butterwick folk short of cash at Post Office has broadband problems

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PROBLEMS with a broadband connection have left residents strapped for cash.

Parents and the elderly in West Butterwick have been unable to draw family allowances or pensions from the outreach facilities provided at the village's Post Office.

The site, which operates from North Street, has not had a broadband connection for five days.

As a result, staff have been unable to operate most services – with the facility only able to sell stamps.

Resident Maggie Wootton said the issue was proving to be problematic among residents who are unable to withdraw cash.

She said: "There's a real problem with the outreach Post Office. They have not got a broadband connection again.

"A lot of people in the village do not have transport and some elderly residents are not able to get public transport to get to Scunthorpe.

"It's happened before and when it does happen they cannot even send parcels out. All the Post Office can do is sell stamps.

"We have got pensioners who have to get their pensions using a card.

"It's affecting people. It's a nuisance quite frankly – young mums use the outreach facility to get their money and elderly people use it to get their pension."

She said even using the bus service to Epworth to use Post Office facilities there would be difficult for the elderly.

"Getting to Epworth is such a trial because not all buses go through the High Street.

"You have to get off the bus at the garden centre, walk to the Post Office and walk back to the garden centre again and there might not be a bus for two hours.

"It's just too much for the elderly and they haven't got the money to be spending in coffee shops to pass time until the bus is due to come back.

"It's causing hardship to people. My main worry is if people cannot get the Post Office service in the village, they will go elsewhere and people will decide we don't need it."

Marion Buszard, 68, of West Butterwick, uses the outreach service that has been in the village for the past five years.

She said: It's a nuisance. It does put a lot of people out – a lot of elderly people have been walking up for their pensions including a 90-year-old lady who had to walk all the way back home again."

Brian Marshall, Post Office outreach cashier, said the problem arises from the weak broadband system the service operates on. He said: "We haven't got the internet speeds we need. When it doesn't work, it doesn't work big style and all we can sell is stamps – we've had lots of problems over the past 18 months."

A Post Office spokesman said: "We are pleased to confirm that Post Office services have resumed. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to customers during this time."