Public meeting to discuss Post Office future

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 23rd Jun 2008

Public meeting to discuss Post Office future

A public meeting will be held this Monday (23 June) to discuss the future of the Rochdale Post Offices marked for closure.

The meeting will take place at St Mary's Church on Oldham Road in Balderstone as part of the campaign to save Buersil Post Office.

Postmaster Jay Patel said: "We've been overwhelmed with messages of support and I would like to thank the many hundreds of residents who have signed our petition. We're glad that people value the service we provide and these messages of support have been a great lift in these difficult times. We are still shell shocked at this decision and would encourage everyone in Rochdale and Royton to attend our meeting."

The meeting will begin at 7.30pm and is open to anyone who is concerned about the closure of Post Offices in Rochdale. MP Paul Rowen will be attending, alongside Councillors Pat Colclough, Dale Mulgrew and Liz Thirsk.

Hundreds of posters have already gone up in support of Buersil Post office, which has been put under threat by the Government's Post Office Closure Plan.

There are only four weeks left to save local Post Offices and the meeting is designed as an interactive way of supporting the Post Office through a mass letter writing exercise.

Paul Rowen said: "As a regular user of this popular Post Office, I am still shocked at this crass decision that will affect so many. This is only a consultation though and together we can save these services. This is the first of a series of meetings in Rochdale aimed at mobilising support to save these key services. This meeting will not just be a talking shop, there will be a mass letter writing session and all correspondence will be sent directly to the consultation team."

Details of similar meetings to be held in Littleborough and Spotland will be announced shortly.