Woodchester post office saved

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Woodchester post office saved - and future looks bright for Painswick

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RESOURCEFUL villagers have saved their post office and another is set to return.

North Woodchester Post Office and stores was at risk of closure because the sub post master and his wife are leaving.

And Painswick Post Office, which was rocked by thefts committed by former sub post master Karen Judd, could be set to return after it closed in March last year.

Both have been at the heart of their villages for centuries.

Dating back to 1428, Painswick’s was famously in the oldest building to house a post office in Britain, and there has been a post office in Selsley Road, North Woodchester for around 100 years.

South Woodchester post office closed along with five others around Stroud in June 2008 and villagers worried North Woodchester’s would go the same way.

“We are leaving and that it will continue is really good news,” said Terry Walters, who has run it for six years with his wife Linda.

“A new sub post master is being trained up and we understand there will be volunteers supporting that role.

“We will be around to facilitate handover.”

Woodchester parish council chairman Gervais Hamilton said it was pleased the situation had been resolved positively.

“We are happy that there seems to be an arrangement in place that continues a Post Office service for the future,” he said.

Stroud Conservative MP Neil Carmichael praised villagers in Woodchester and Post Office Ltd for saving the service there, and efforts to reinstate the post office in Painswick, during a meeting of stakeholders and Post Office Ltd, which he organised.

“I am delighted that the combined efforts of the Post Office, Painswick Parish Council, Councillor Julie Job and myself means that Painswick will soon have Post Office services once more.

“Since my election I have been committed to protecting and improving Post Office services around the Valleys and Vale, and this recent development is the latest in a long line of successes. I will continue to work to ensure that our network of Post Offices remains secure.”

He said he has been working with the Post Office to ensure continuation of service wherever a change of personnel or premises becomes necessary in Frampton-on-Severn, Amberley and Woodchester.

In Parliament he ‘fully supported’ £2billion of support for the Post Office network.

A Post Office spokesman said: "There are no plans for North Woodchester Post Office to close. The current Postmaster Terry Walters plans to retire. He is currently training current employee Pauline Woollam over the next few months to apply for the position of post master. All being well Mr Waters would then retire in January and Pauline would take over."