Seven Post Offices set to close!

Date published: 07/06/2008

With the news that local postmasters have been dreading, the Post Office will announce the potential closure of seven branches in the Borough on Tuesday (10 June). A six-week consultation will then start on the future of the branches. In news that will shock residents, 57 branches across Greater Manchester are set to axed.

This is part of the Government's Post Office closure programme. Rochdale Online has seen a list of the branches affected and some will come as a surprise to many. This comes at a time when Post Office Ltd have come under fire for paying their Chief Executive Adam Crozier, a £3,000,000 annual bonus.

Opposition MPs tried to stop the closure programme by proposing a motion in the House of Commons demanding that the Government halt their plans to make 2,500 - one in five - branches shut up shop.

The Government had actually postponed the consultation to avoid a backlash in the local elections. In the letter to postmasters in November, Royal Mail stated that 'the closure of any Post Office can be highly sensitive and can potentially become a local political issue', especially in the run-up to local and London mayoral elections. Royal Mail also confirmed that for this reason they 'have been asked by Government to introduce a freeze on some element of the Network Change Programme during the run up to these elections'.

The announcement will be made on Tuesday and local Lib Dems and Conservatives say they are planning to fight tooth and nail to save the local post offices set to be axed.

You can find out whether your local Post Office is under threat on Tuesday at 12.01am when we will post the list.