Pensioners lead fight to save Post Office

Bill Burkitt is leading the campaign to save the branch from closure. He has collected over 100 signatures of residents who do not want to see the services their post office offers lost.

Mr Burkitt, 81, of Parkstone Road, said: "I don't want to see any of them closed. I blame the government because they have underfunded the Post Office over the years and now we are all suffering."

Cllr Dennis Moon helped get the petition together.

He said: "A lot of people rely on this service being handy because they are looking after their partners and don't like to leave them for more than 10 minutes to go and get their pension."

Post Office announced the possible closure of the branch, along with the sub-post office on Milward Road, last week.

The decision to close has been agreed with the branch subpostmasters.

A public consultation, which aims to ensure customers' interests are considered before any closures take place, will end on April 4, with a final decision made about two weeks later. If the decision is made to shut them, they are expected to close their doors for the final time in June.

The postal services watchdog, Postwatch, is carrying out an investigation into services in Hastings as part of the consultation. It is looking at transport links, the ability of remaining post offices to absorb extra custom, geographic and demographic data and disabled access.

If Postwatch is not satisfied customers will still have good access to post office services, it will strongly oppose the closures.

Cllr Godfrey Daniel has written to the head of South East Postwatch, Sir David Bland, to oppose the closure of the Milward Road branch.

He said: "In my opinion, closure of this post office will seriously affect the community which it presently serves and undermine the current vital neighbourhood renewal process."

Cllr Pam Brown, who represents the Milward Road area, said she is seeking an assurance from the Post Office that no more branches will be closed down in Hastings.