Bexhill: MP and business leaders urge public to get behind campaign to save town's post office

Howard Martin, president of Bexhill Chamber of Commerce & Tourism, said if the branch in Devonshire Square shut, it would be a ‘tragedy’.

Earlier this month, the Post Office announced that it is looking at options for its wholly-owned branches across the country to cut costs, with up to 115 branches being potentially affected.

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

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

He and Howard will be in Devonshire Square by the post office on Saturday (November 30), encouraging people to sign the petition, collecting signatures in person.

Howard said: “A lot of businesses trying to get into the online market are absolutely dependent on the post office for the delivery of parcels, so it’s not just about the lack of banking facilities and cash facilities at the post office.

“Post office and parcel services in particular become the lifeblood of businesses that are just trying to compete in the online market and to lose this counter service would be a tragedy for businesses in Bexhill.”

Dr Mullan said: “I would encourage people to sign the petition. Local businesses have told me how important the post office is to them. I am firmly opposed to the closure of Bexhill Post Office, as 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.”

Following the announcement the Post Office said it was considering a ‘range of options to reduce costs’.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “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.

Dr Mullan’s petition can be found at drkieranmullan.org.uk/campaigns/save-bexhill-post-office.