New post office plan scuppered by Royal Mail

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Hopes of easing the large queues which form at a North Somerset post office have been dashed after Royal Mail objected to plans to open another counter in the town.

Bosses at Sainsbury's in Portishead said they would look at the possibility of opening another post office counter as part of its plans to build a new store at Serbert Way.

The move came after residents asked for a second post office in the town as part of a consultation on the store plans, which have been given the green light by councillors.

But the idea looks likely to have hit the buffers after Post Office Limited, which is part of the Royal Mail Group, said it would object to the opening of a new facility in the town.

It said it would not approve a new post office in such close proximity to the existing outlet, based at McColls newsagents in the High Street, because it would 'seriously undermine the viability of their existing post office'.

Portishead, which has a population of about 22,000, used to have a main post office in the High Street and two sub post offices at Redcliffe Bay and West Hill.

The High Street post office closed, although the sorting office remains, and is now located in the shop now occupied by McColls. The two sub post offices were closed in July 2005 as part of a cost-cutting review by Royal Mail, despite residents mounting a fierce campaign to keep them open.

Portishead Town Council has now invited Post Office Limited to a meeting to discuss provision in the town, and councillors want to gather residents' views about the current service.