Jonathan Djanogly, the Member of Parliament for the Huntingdon Constituency, today called on Huntingdon residents to write to Post Office Limited to help the campaign to save Hartford Post Office.
A vigorous campaign has been mounted to get the Post Office to change its mind by local community leaders. A fly leaflet campaign alerting people to the risk and also a petition have been organised by local Councillors James Fell, Mike Simpson and Derek Holley. Petitions have also been prepared by: the Divisional Superintendent of Huntingdon Red Cross, Mrs Amanda Norton, Mr and Mrs Johnson of the Newsagents shop at Mayfield Shops and the Manager of the Lord Protector Pub, Mrs Edna Betts. Over 300 signatures have been obtained so far and these have been sent to the independent consumer watchdog, Postwatch, who have forwarded them to Post Office Ltd.
However, as things stand, Post Office Ltd is adamant that it will permanently close Hartford Post Office in the near future; they say that this is "Due to restructuring and modernisation of our urban network to address falling customer numbers and increasing costs." If closure goes ahead it will cause hardship to thousands of people living in the area, not least the old and disabled.
Mr Djanogly said:
"Closure of the Post Office at Mayfield Road will mean that residents from Hartford will have to travel to Sapley Square or Huntingdon, a distance of one mile. Moreover, this is an issue for all Huntingdon residents, as the closure of Hartford Post Office will put additional pressure on the Sapley Square and Huntingdon branches. So please sign the petition or, better still, write to Post Office Limited and tell them how important Hartford Post Office is to our community."
The consultation address is:
Post Office Ltd, National Consultation Team, PO Box 2060 Watford, WD18 8ZW"