Wandsworth post offices to close

10.32.00am GMT Thu 21st Feb 2008

Shas Sheehan with Brian Paddick, "Post offices are vital to local communities"

Liberal Democrats condemn plans to close yet more post office branches. On 19th February the Government announced the planned closure of 8 Post Offices in Wandsworth Borough, four of them in Tooting. This was part of 2,500 closures planned nationally, 169 of which are in London. Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, has launched a major campaign to save local post offices. "Post offices are often the heart of a local community and we must all do our utmost to preserve them. The trouble with economic arguments is that they leave people out of the equation and they are the most important part. Many people rely on a local post office, and to close 20% of London's post offices just shows a complete disregard for the needs of the local community," says Brian. See www.brianpaddick.org

The proposed closures are in Battersea: 268 Battersea Park Road and New Covent Garden Market; in Tooting 258 Balham High Road, 179 Garratt Lane, 274 Mitcham Lane, and 318 Trinity Road; in Putney 209 Lower Richmond Road and 279 Putney Bridge Road.

Shas Sheehan, Assembly candidate for Merton & Wandsworth says "The Liberal Democrats believe that local post offices provide a vital community service and that the Government should do everything it can to stop this latest wave of closures. Local Liberal Democrats will continue to lead the fight to save local post offices."

"The Post Office seems to be caught in a spiral of decline. The service is cut and so even less people use it. This needs a much more imaginative a approach than this Government is prepared to consider. We must break free of the short-sighted logic of the accountant, and the glib sound bites of the so-called modernisers. There are ways to stop the closures without breaking the bank; all that's needed is for the Government to recognise the wider issues here," says Matthew Green, Chair of Battersea & Tooting Liberal Democrats.