Home page
Richmond borough news
Hounslow and Chiswick
Floods
National News
Entertainment News
National Video News
Archive
Text your pics
Pictures
Travel latest
Nostalgia
Be a Citizen Reporter
Site Map
Search Advanced Search
Richmond borough news  RSS Feed RSS feed | About
EDITOR'S CHOICE
RICHMOND NEWS
Bus fatality driver: ‘I lost control of vehicle’
Somewhere over the rainbow lies equality for one and all
Suzy 'unlikely to be Wright victim'
BRENTFORD NEWS
Teacher’s Tube ‘suicide jump’
Cabbie’s emergency stop to help deliver baby boy
Hijacker works at Heathrow
Terminal 5 boss quits
VOTE
Should parents have to pay for permits to drop their children off at school?
Yes
No
I don't know
GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL
Most read Comments
Signed and sealed - post offices to shut
To shut: The Cambridge Parade branch
To shut: The Cambridge Parade branch

The fate of three borough post offices has been signed, sealed and delivered, with all of them stamped for closure.

Two Twickenham branches - Cambridge Parade in Richmond Road and The Common in Staines Road - will shut along with the Broad Street office in Teddington.

Twickenham MP Vincent Cable, who has lobbied to save the branches, said: "We made a number of strong representations to the Post Office, but they haven't been budged, going back on only very rare cases."

The borough's London Assembly member Tony Arbour said: "These closures are going ahead against massive public anger. Local post offices are the anchors of the community and without them the small shopping centres, of which they are the hub, may die leaving the whole community the poorer."

Harry Patel has run the Broad Street branch with his wife Usha for 24 years. He said people were not given enough guidance on the arguments for saving his business, adding it would have a huge impact on those who may not realise how much they rely on the service.

He added: "They should put a candid camera up to see the problems people are going to face. This is going to be devastating for some."

The Post Office said the Teddington branch was closed because there are two others less than a mile away, both on bus routes.

Outside the Staines Road branch this week Gemma Day, 41, from Elmsleigh Road, Twickenham, said: "As a photographer, I work from home. On a deadline I can catch the post here. It always seems busy, and its closing will really affect me."

And at the Cambridge Parade branch, John Gordon, 66, a retiree from Park Road, said: "I'm very sad about it because I use it very regularly. Usually there is quite a queue at the Richmond office."

The three borough branches are among 155 to close in the capital. After a six-week consultation seven branches were saved and seven are being reviewed.

Post Office network development manager for London Anita Turner said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly. We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation."

Postmasters have been given up to three months to close, and until Monday to tell the Post Office of their preferred closing date within that deadline.

5:39pm Friday 9th May 2008

Print   Email this   Comment
Add your comment
Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
Security Image. Registered site users are not required to enter Security Image Information.
 
 e.g. 123-123
Comment:
Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored.
Format Text:

 
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed
** To avoid register now or login
Archive
'
Local Search
Powered by Powered by Fish4
Click here to enter the competition
Be a Citizen Reporter
Click here to read about the Green Guardian Awards 2008
SNAP IT AND WIN
Text us your pictures and you could win £100

Click here for more information
Your Letters
Your comments, your views ...
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy © Copyright 2001-2008
Newsquest Media Group
A Gannett Company
This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network