With Blackfriars Road Post Office Closing Tomorrow, Southwark Lib Dems Demand ‘Do not Repeat Great Dover Street Fiasco’
The post office on Blackfriars Road is due to close tomorrow (31st January 2023) after the premises was withdrawn from Post Office use by its private operator.
Post Office Ltd has assured residents that this closure will be “temporary”, but has given no indication as to when residents can expect postal services to return to their area.
In the meantime, the numerous locals who rely on the service, many of whom are elderly or vulnerable, have been instructed to use other post offices nearby.
However, many have expressed concerns about the additional pressure the closure will put on the remaining post offices.
Leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats, Cllr Victor Chamberlain, has requested an urgent meeting with representatives of Post Office Ltd to discuss the closure.
Cllr Chamberlain, member for Borough & Bankside ward, raised concerns about the negative impacts on elderly residents and the lack of consultation with locals prior to the post office announcing its impending closure.
Additionally, Cllr Chamberlain highlighted the similarities between this situation and that of the Great Dover Street post office.
The post office on Great Dover Street closed in 2018 and, despite locals being assured the closure was ‘temporary’, it took 5 years for another post office to open.
Commenting, leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats and member for Borough & Bankside, Cllr Victor Chamberlain said:
“It is deeply troubling to see yet another post office in our borough closing. Each closure represents more difficulties for vulnerable residents and piles pressure on the already overstretched services that remain.
This closure may be ‘temporary’, but the residents of Great Dover Street were left waiting 5 years for their ‘temporarily closed’ post office to be reopened. Post Office Ltd must avoid a repeat of this absolute fiasco. They must provide solid commitments as to when residents will have this vital service restored.”