Bexhill: 'Town would suffer far-reaching negative effects' if post office closes; Labour Rother councillors write to Government

Labour councillors Christine Bayliss, Ruairi McCourt, Mark Legg, Gareth Delany, Fazlul Chowdhury and Sam Coleman penned then letter to Gareth Thomas, Minister for Business and Trade.

The move comes following the recent announcement by the Post Office, which said it is looking at options for its wholly-owned branches across the country to cut costs, with up to 115 branches being potentially affected.

There are fears that the branch in Bexhill’s Devonshire Square could shut, which is directly run by the Post Office.

In the letter, the councillors said: “As a cornerstone of our community, the Devonshire Square Post Office offers essential services that are indispensable to many, particularly elderly residents, vulnerable individuals, and those without access to digital alternatives. Its closure would profoundly disrupt daily life for these groups and have far-reaching negative effects on our town.”

Cllr Bayliss, leader of the Labour group on Rother District Council, and cabinet member for economic development, said: “Our businesses rely on the local post office for banking their takings, posting parcels and more.

“It’s vital that we keep the full range of services and don’t end up with a counter at the back of a town centre shop selling stamps and postal orders.”

Cllr Delany, Rother councillor for St Michaels and Pebsham ward, said: “We don’t have post office facilities in east Bexhill so people rely on the Devonshire Square Post office for the full range of services they offer.

“To lose those services would be devastating for a lot of people, especially those who can’t access online services.”

Cllr Legg, Bexhilll Old Town councillor and trade union activist, said: “Any closure of the main post office would pose a serious risk to the livelihoods of our local dedicated post office workers who face the possibility of job losses and the financial insecurity that comes with it.”

The Post Office first announced its plans in November.

Following the announcement, Bexhill and Battle MP, Dr Kieran Mullan launched a petition, calling for the Bexhill branch to be kept open.

He said: “I am firmly opposed to the closure of Bexhill Post Office. I know that it’s loss would have a big impact on the town, its residents and businesses. It would not just impact Bexhill residents, but also those from nearby rural local areas who cannot get the more specialised Post Office services such as passport checking and DVLA licences from the smaller branches.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are considering a range of options to reduce our central costs. This includes considering the future of our remaining Directly Managed Branches (DMBs), which are loss-making. We have long held a publicly-stated ambition to move to a fully franchised network and we are in dialogue with the unions about future options for the DMBs.”

The spokesperson added that Bexhill Post Office is a directly managed branch but added that no announcement has been made about any branch.