Sub-Post Office closure agreed

Despite a sackload of protests from residents and community leaders and objections from consumer watchdog Postwatch, the Town Common sub-Post Office serving Fairmile and St Catherine's Hill will shut on June 3.

News of the closure of the Town Common post office counter has been slammed by West Christchurch residents association general secretary Colin West who spearheaded a campaign to save the branch used heavily by the area's large retired population.

"It is going to be a great disappointment to a great number of people. It has been done purely for financial reasons and there has been no consideration for the community whatsoever," said Mr West.

He said the nearest alternatives to Town Common was the sub-Post Office counter in the One-Stop convenience store in Barrack Road - which is not served by a bus route from St Catherine's Hill - or the main Christchurch Post Office.

Closure of the Town Common branch in the St Catherine's Parade precinct off Fairmile Road, first announced in February, follows the decision of the sub-Postmaster to shut up shop as part of a national restructuring for Post Offices.

The move is blamed on declining customer numbers and falling profits, but opponents claim hundreds of people, especially the elderly, rely on their local post office.

Earlier this year the Stanpit sub-Post office at Mudeford closed after more than 50 years and other outlying branches have been axed in parts of Poole and at Barton-on-Sea.

Post Office head of area Drew McBride said: "Proposals to close branches are not made without considerable research and last spring we asked all sub-postmasters what they would like to do."

"We then consulted customers, MPs and other community representatives, explaining why we are proposing these changes."

He added: "We are confident that our customers will still have reasonable access to Post Office services and that this change will improve the long-term prospects of branches in the area."