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Soho post office plans unveiled
PLANS to close Soho’s main post office and open a new one in a WH Smith in Fitzrovia were revealed on Tuesday.
The move is part of national plans from the Post Office to sell 70 branches in a cost-cutting drive.
Royal Mail chiefs rubber-stamped the move for May 2008 – but without public consultation.
A spokesman said: “The proposals are not subject to public debate or consent.”
The Cities of London and Westminster MP Mark Field presented a petition from “hundreds” of angry Soho residents at a meeting with the Post Office and WH Smith in the stationers’ flagship Oxford Street store on Monday.
They criticise WH Smith’s offer to have the same number of counters in the new post office when there will be potentially twice as many customers.
They say reaching the Oxford Street post office, at the back of the Plaza, which stretches deep into Fitzrovia, will be difficult for the elderly.
Mr Field said: “I fully appreciate the concerns of Soho residents about the Post Office move, especially considering the busy nature of Oxford Street. I have now had the chance to visit the WH Smith store involved and have discussed the proposals and my concerns directly with their team and Post Office representatives. I feel confident that should the plans go ahead, they will be able to provide us with a spacious, efficient and well-designed post office, keeping the facility alive here in the heart of London.” |
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