REDBRIDGE: Post Office faces fresh uncertainty (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

REDBRIDGE: Post Office faces fresh uncertainty

8:29am Wednesday 8th October 2008 in

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FURIOUS residents have spoken of their disgust that more ‘lifeline’ post offices may face the axe if Royal Mail loses the contract to distribute pension and benefit payments.

Around 3,000 more branches may be forced to close, in addition to the 2,500 already scrapped, if ministers decide to hand the function to an alternative operator such as PayPoint.

Works and Pensions secretary James Purnell is due to make the decision within three weeks but insists it will be be taken purely on commercial grounds.

Woodford Green post office branch manager Joseph Andrade told the Guardian that if they lost the contract it could have dire consequences.

He added: “It would hit our margins and our clients would be stuck and people would be outraged.

“Since the High Road South Woodford branch closed I have had more people coming in for their pensions but not so much for ebay and things.

“People are so used to their Post Office accounts in the over 55-year-old group and they don’t want to use other services.”

The South Woodford High Road branch was forced to close last month despite thousands of objections from residents.

Esmaeil Mashadie has been manager of the Wanstead High Street branch for five years and has similar fears.

He said: “We are concerned just like everybody else as if we were to go then people would have to travel miles.

“We last half of our business from pensions and benefits when the Government started to pay directly into bank accounts two years ago and so if the rest went it would be a worry.”

Clifford Wing, of Montalt Road in Woodford Green, works as a part-time groundsman in the Castle Pub and said it would be a ‘nightmare’ if the Woodford Green branch shut.

He said: “We pay our council rent there and get our money out for our holidays plus send parcels and buy stamps.

“The Chingford Mount branch has already closed so we only have this one left. Here it’s a personal service and people take time to get to know the customers."

Mandy Smith and her 15-year-old daughter Georgina travel all the way from Walthamstow to South Woodford’s George Lane post office as it is now the most convenient to reach.

She said: “What would we do without our post offices as they are a lifeline?

“We were waiting for ten minutes today as there were only two staff with seven counters but the Post Office is an institution and If it went we would be very upset.”

Roy Carpenter, 63, from Beacontree Avenue, South Woodford, said it would be a disaster if any more branches were forced to shut.

He said: “It’s unbelievable as I use the Post Office maybe three or four times every week. It’s the most important thing as I’ll be retiring in two months and the only other little bit of income I get is through selling things on Ebay.

“Most of the time there’s a massive queue in George Lane and I had to wait for 15 minutes today. I’ve never walked straight in there as it’s always full.”

A Post Office Limited spokeswoman said: "It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this stage as the tendering process is ongoing."

Visit chelmsfordderbyroadnhw.co.uk for details where to find the petition to have the South Woodford High Road branch reopened.