Post Office services must be available to all

Post Office branches may close but services must stay

The county council today vowed to continue to fight to save local post office services for people in Staffordshire.

The promise comes as Post Office Ltd (POL) announced a range of sweeping cuts in Staffordshire. The announcement follows a brief consultation that began in April.

John Taylor, Leader of Staffordshire County Council said: "We are disappointed by today's announcement but unfortunately not surprised. We emphasised to POL why the businesses were important, particularly to isolated and vulnerable communities, but we have also been working on what practical steps to take should they forge ahead with their proposals."

The county council will continue working with a number of partners, including district councils, MPs and the Community Council of Staffordshire.

John added: "We have already identified three distinct areas where the county council can offer support. The first is to identify county council premises where some post office facilities could be transferred in areas that are losing their branches. We are also clearing the way for county councillors to support these facilities financially through the Local Member's Initiative Scheme (LMIS), and we want to help those branches that have survived with business advice to ensure they remain viable businesses for the foreseeable future.

"Individual Post Office branches may close, but our priority now is to ensure that everyone in Staffordshire retains access to postal services wherever possible."

For more information on LMIS go to:

/yourcouncil/members/lmis/

Page Last Modified: 01/07/2008 15:10:00

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