Like many residents, I’m alarmed to hear the Royal Mail Customer Service Point on Fenton Street’s opening hours are due to be changed.

The office is currently open between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday for parcels to be dropped off or collected, with reduced hours on Saturdays and Sundays.  In approximately 2 weeks’ time however, the office will be open for only 2 hours a day and that the times of opening are currently unknown.  Customers have been informed that  in future the office may close completely.

Two hours a day will be a dramatic reduction in opening hours, making it significantly harder for individual and business customers to access this facility, and putting jobs at risk.

Having seen other issues with Royal Mail refuse to replace damaged or broken mailboxes (instead removing them from the collection network entirely), I’m really concerned that we’re seeing the slow erosion of this now privatised service and security for the workforce.

I’ve written to Royal Mail today urging them to preserve access to the delivery office for customers, and ensure that all the jobs involved are safeguarded.