Ipswich's Royal Mail sorting office in Commercial Road will shut and be fully transferred to Chelmsford by August 2017

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A major blow has been dealt to Royal Mail workers in Ipswich after it was confirmed the town centre’s sorting office will close next summer.

The decision to transfer the remainder of the Commercial Road site’s mail processing operation to Chelmsford could affect up to 109 employees. It follows an initial restructuring shake-up last year.

But mail delivery and collections will “continue as usual” at the site after the move is finalised in August 2017, Royal Mail bosses said last night.

They insisted there “will be no impact on our service to customers” but blamed the decision on digital communications “challenges”, a fall in the number of letters being posted and competition in the parcels delivery market.

Workers affected have the option of transferring to Chelmsford. The number of positions affected is not known.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “This decision follows extensive discussions with our unions and our people since the review began in November 2012.

“There will be a transitional arrangement which will retain some work in Ipswich until early August 2017. Some of the workforce will have an opportunity to remain until then.

“Planning for the transfer of the remainder of the mail processing work will now get under way to ensure a smooth transition for our people and our business.

“There will be no impact on our service to customers as a result of these changes. Mail deliveries and collection services that are currently also located at the Ipswich mail centre site will continue.”

Mail processing services were first transferred from Ipswich to Chelmsford, as well as some to Norwich, in August last year.

The spokesman added: “There are 109 members of staff currently working at Ipswich mail centre. Royal Mail’s aim is to minimise any job reductions and it is our intention to make these changes without any compulsory redundancies.

“By asking people to demonstrate reasonable flexibility, we expect to be able to find roles for everyone who wants to continue to work for Royal Mail, with some remaining on site until early August 2017.”

Tony Fox, operations director for the East region at the Royal Mail, said: “We understand that these final changes to our mail centre processing operations in Ipswich will impact on some colleagues.

“Our agreements with the CWU (Communication Workers Union) set out an agreed approach to managing these changes and we will be working very closely with CWU and Unite CMA (Communication and Managers’ Association) to support our people during what will, inevitably, be a period of uncertainty.

“We are committed to making changes without any compulsory redundancies and we expect we will be able to find roles for everyone who wants to continue working for Royal Mail.”

Both unions were approached by us but officials were yesterday unavailable for comment.