Gloucester Royal Mail delivery office move are shelved

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Gloucester Royal Mail delivery office move from Brockworth to Quedgeley are shelved

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Earlier this month Royal Mail wrote to residents in Elmbridge informing them they would no longer be able to use the Gloucester North delivery office in Brockworth, but instead would have to travel an extra mile to the Gloucester South delivery office at Quedgeley.

The change was due to take place on July 15 for all residents living in postcodes around the Elmbridge area, with Royal Mail citing a rise in electronic communication and "a competitive postal market" as reasons for the move.

However, the proposal has been knocked back thanks to Gloucester city councillor Chris Witts (LD, Elmbridge).

He said: "On behalf of my constituents of Elmbridge I have written to Nick Hyde, delivery office manager, asking him to reconsider his decision for two reasons.

"Although it doesn’t seem a lot, it will be an extra two miles on the return journey to Quedgeley. This will not only add fuel costs but time as well.

"Brockworth is on a bus route from Elmbridge, whereas the journey to Quedgeley isn’t. In fact it will take several buses on a tortuous route."

He added: "I also pointed out to Mr Hyde that in the past 10 days I have had to go to Gloucester North delivery office to collect packages that the postman could not deliver to my address. This despite both my neighbours being at home on the days it was attempted to deliver to me.

"Is there not a new Royal Mail policy of trying to leave packages with neighbours?"

Since Mr Witts’s letter he has had a positive response from Royal Mail with the move from Brockworth to Quedgeley being postponed.

He said: "This is great news for the residents of Elmbridge who will now not have to travel the extra mileage to Quedgeley to collect their undelivered mail."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "If two of our delivery offices merge we would always provide a service.

"We would either deliver to a neighbour, re-deliver to the same address, re-deliver to another address or re-deliver to a post office of their choice.

"Either way we would make sure the post got to the person."

Meanwhile, Royal Mail confirmed it is looking into the reason behind the U-turn but was unable to state why the decision was made.