A Lancashire subpostmaster celebrating a successful campaign to save his post office has pledged support for another branch in the region that has been selected for closure in its place.
Mark Bamforth, from Lytham St Annes, was informed that his office was no longer earmarked for closure following a six-week public consultation. The U-turn followed a high-profile campaign and impromptu protest march by Mark's customers as well as support from local MP Michael Jack.
Mark told Convenience Store he was relieved his branch was no longer under threat, but was quick to add that celebrations had been dampened by news that the office in Newburgh, Wigan, was now on the list.
He said: "It's a great relief and a result of a lot of hard work by my customers and Michael Jack. It's obviously wonderful news for our community, but I feel very sorry for the Wigan post office which has found itself on the list. The subpostmaster would have thought she was safe, but now suddenly she's under threat. It's not right that another post office is simply added - the post office should just move on to another area now. I've already sent a lot of my material to her to help with any campaigning."
So far in the closure programme, which runs until October, some 26 offices have been given a reprieve with 21 offices finding themselves added to a closure list following a public consultation.
The Post Office denied it was operating a one-for-one policy on closures, but said it had been given a remit by the government to close 2,500 branches. A spokesman said: "The closures list for an area comes from a larger list and these are the offices which have sometimes found themselves added after a branch has not been closed."
Mark Bamforth, from Lytham St Annes, was informed that his office was no longer earmarked for closure following a six-week public consultation. The U-turn followed a high-profile campaign and impromptu protest march by Mark's customers as well as support from local MP Michael Jack.
Mark told Convenience Store he was relieved his branch was no longer under threat, but was quick to add that celebrations had been dampened by news that the office in Newburgh, Wigan, was now on the list.
He said: "It's a great relief and a result of a lot of hard work by my customers and Michael Jack. It's obviously wonderful news for our community, but I feel very sorry for the Wigan post office which has found itself on the list. The subpostmaster would have thought she was safe, but now suddenly she's under threat. It's not right that another post office is simply added - the post office should just move on to another area now. I've already sent a lot of my material to her to help with any campaigning."
So far in the closure programme, which runs until October, some 26 offices have been given a reprieve with 21 offices finding themselves added to a closure list following a public consultation.
The Post Office denied it was operating a one-for-one policy on closures, but said it had been given a remit by the government to close 2,500 branches. A spokesman said: "The closures list for an area comes from a larger list and these are the offices which have sometimes found themselves added after a branch has not been closed."
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