Herefordshire Council has warned that the county has to be vigilant to prevent further post office closures, which will isolate the most vulnerable members of the community. The warning follows today's news that Tudorville Post Office in Ross is to be closed after all by Post Office Limited, despite being spared the axe the closure of ten post offices in Herefordshire was announced last week (29 October 2008).
The council reports that two further post offices - in Titley, near Kington, and Bringsty Common, in the east of the county - have temporarily closed. A further eight post offices are going to be change to become 'outreach' services with reduced or limited facilities and opening hours.
Anthony Bush, parish liaison and rural services officer, said: "The council is now urgently consolidating plans for how it can fight to protect the other post offices remaining in the county network, but many people who run rural post offices are disheartened and worried for the future and may throw in the towel anyway. The risk is that once you take a post office away, the village store may go with it, and the heart torn out of already fragile communities".
At a meeting of the full council (Friday 31 October 2008), councillors condemned the recent review of post offices as a sham. They unanimously supported an emergency motion, put by council leader Roger Phillips, which dismissed the six-week consultation by Post Office Limited as 'a total waste of time'.
Councillors from across the political parties spoke of their anger or dismay at the consultation process and that the closures would hit vulnerable, elderly and disabled people hardest. The council has contacted local MPs and other local authorities and government bodies to see what can be done to fight the decision.