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Pensioners at St Luke’s community centre yesterday (Thursday) |
Elderly will be hardest hit if post office shuts, bosses told
Warning that longer journeys will expose pensioners to crime dangers
TOWN Hall chiefs have issued the Post Office with a bold ultimatum warning of the grave consequences of closing a branch in Finsbury.
The Goswell Road post office, used by hundreds of vulnerable pensioners, faces the threat of the axe as part of a plan to shut 2,500 branches nationwide.
Its loss would make it the 18th post office to close in Islington in recent years – and would leave Finsbury with just two post offices, forcing pensioners, the unemployed and the disabled to make long journeys to collect benefits.
Islington Council, which successfully overturned plans to close the Essex Road post office, this week delivered a detailed document to the Post Office which included pleas from vulnerable elderly residents.
Lib Dem councillor Lucy Watt said: “There’s no doubt Islington has suffered disproportionately in the axing of post offices. For us, this would be the 18th closure, leaving only two branches in Finsbury, neither of which are readily accessible for people living in these parts of Clerkenwell and Bunhill.”
She added: “I am particularly concerned about the impact on the elderly, who are often fearful of crime. Forcing them to travel a great deal further with their pension money in their purse or pocket exposes them to risk they shouldn’t have to face.”
Keren Wiltshire, manager of St Luke’s community centre, which has more than 800 members aged over 70, said: “I walked a very elderly lady from St Luke’s to Old Street post office to collect her pension on a hot August day. It was an hour’s round trip and was exhausting for her. She really struggled to manage.
“It just isn’t right that this service could be taken away. There is a real consensus in the community about opposing this closure.” In the last six years, 17 post offices have closed, including those in Old Street, Amwell Street, Westbourne Road, Copenhagen, Street, St Peter Street, Southgate Road, Holloway Road, Hornsey Road, Junction Road, Archway Road, 100 Caledonian Road, 492 Caledonian Road, Blackstock Road, Murray Grove, Stoke Newington Road, Wilton Way and Ferme Park Road. |
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