Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 27th April 2011 ……..
A Councillor has vowed to campaign to save a village post office after it was announced the branch will close.
The branch in Middle Street, Elton, near Peterborough, will close for the final time on Saturday when the lease on the building comes to an end. The Post Office has said it is trying to find a new location to reopen a branch in the village at a future date but Councillor Nick Guyatt, Huntingdonshire District Council ward councillor for Elton and Folksworth, said it was vital that the service was kept in the village.
He said: “The post office is the focal point of the village, alongside the church and the pub. It is especially important for Elton as there are a lot of people who are not very mobile who live in the village. I know the post-master has been changed a couple of times in the last ten years, which is quite a high turnover. We are living in difficult times but it is very important that we keep a post office in Elton. If there is not one opened after the current one closes, I will be campaigning to have another one opened.”
The sub-postmistress, who wished to remain anonymous, said the situation was taken out of her hands when the landlord who owns the property did not offer the option to renew the lease. She said: “I have been given notice to vacate the property at the end of the month. There is not a lot that I can do about it. It is too short notice for me to find another property in the area. Quite a few of the customers are upset about the decision but I know the Post Office is trying to find a solution.”
A Post Office spokesman said: “Customers can be assured that it remains our intention to keep a post office service in Elton and we are currently investigating the options available. We must make sure that any future service reflects the numbers and type of customer using it locally and in situations like this we may well seek to establish an alternative type of service.”
Following the closure, the nearest post office branches for Elton residents will be Nassington Post Office, in Station Road, Nassington or Alwalton Post Office, in Oundle Road, Peterborough.
