WOKINGHAM’S Crown Post Office is to close this June despite a passionate campaign to save it.
Staff at the historic Broad Street branch were told on Tuesday of the plan to close its doors for the last time on Wednesday, June 5.
A new kiosk will open in the Market Place branch of WHSmith the next morning.
More than 5,000 residents signed a petition organised by Wokingham’s Labour party in protest of the plans to close the branch, while a consultation event held in February saw bosses blasted by members of the public unhappy with the plans.
And local councillors from all parties condemned the proposals.
As we reported at the time, residents came out with the feeling that the Post Office had already made their minds up about the plan.
One, who didn’t wish to be named, said: “It wasn’t a consultation, it was him talking to us. They didn’t ask us for our views”.
Wokingham MP Sir John Redwood also met with bosses as part of the campaign to keep the branch.
But it’s all to no avail: services will be shunted into WHSmith.
The Post Office is promising three serving counters and two self-service kiosks offering a range of products and services including banking, offering the ability to deposit and withdraw cash, as well as check their balance, over the counter.
It is also planning to be open for seven days a week: from 8.30am to 6pm on weekdays, 8.30am to 5.30pm on Saturday and 10am to 2pm on Sundays.
In a statement, Roger Gale, the Post Office’s network and Sales director, said that the change would help to ensure the branch is commercially viable into the future and therefore protect Post Office services on which customers in the area depend.
He said: “The Post Office is committed to keeping our services at the heart of communities which we know is hugely important to people. This change means we can continue to do that, into the future. We are making sure we take the right action to sustain services for years to come.”
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Wokingham Paper
