London post office closures to start next month » Housing » 24dash.com

The closure of scores of post offices in London will start next month but seven branches on an original hit list are now to remain open.

A total of 155 offices will shut in the capital, with the first closures starting in June.

More than 27,000 responses were made during a public consultation into the plans, it was also revealed.

Anita Turner, the Post Office's network development manager for London, said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly.

"We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation and we believe that the amended plan announced today offers our customers in London the best prospect for a sustainable network in the future."

Roger Darlington, chairman of the Greater London branch of consumer group Postwatch, said he was pleased that seven proposed closures were to be withdrawn.

"This reduces the impact of the closure programme in the capital a little and shows that the Post Office has listened to customers and Postwatch during the consultation exercise."

Westminster City Council accused the Post Office of "dragging its heels" over attempts by the local authority to maintain postal services in the capital.

Councillor Danny Chalkley said: "We have been in talks with the Post Office for almost a year to see if we can continue services in some way, be it within council buildings or through a Post Office-proposed 'lite'
set up.

"However we only received some financial details from the Post Office in the last couple of weeks regarding the branches earmarked for closure and we are still waiting for crucial information."

Merrick Cockell, chairman of London Councils, said: "These closures will have a devastating impact on local communities across the whole capital.

"Not only will they hit the vulnerable members of our society who rely on post offices to get benefits and pay bills but also our local shops and businesses.

"The Post Office may feel they have done London some sort of favour by not closing all the offices they had planned to thanks to the persuasive arguments from local councils and residents, however today's announcement still means the capital has lost disproportionately more post offices than the rest of the country."