Post Office stamped out (From Stroud News and Journal)

Post Office stamped out

MORE than a century of tradition ended on Wednesday as protesters watched the tiny Whiteshill Post Office close its shutters for the last time.

The little branch sold its last stamps on Wednesday, March 23 despite a hard-fought campaign by local residents and political figures.

Stroud MP David Drew even accused the Post Office of "bullying" the branch into closure in a heated Westminster speech.

"Some people would say it is a question of bullying," he told the House of Commons on the day before the closure.

He attacked postal bosses for classifying Whiteshill as an urban branch, denying it the vital subsidies available for rural post offices.

"Whiteshill is a village," he said. "It looks like a village, it feels like a village and the people who live there know it is a village.

He added: "If it were deemed a rural post office it could remain open."

But Mr Drew was in turn attacked by campaigner Steve Penny of county pressure group Post Office Countermeasures, who said the MP had voted for government policies that had helped the demise of many post offices.

"Yet another post office has closed because of the Labour government bullying people into having their pensions and benefits paid into their bank accounts," he said.

"David Drew voted for this policy and so is directly responsible for this closure."

A Post Office spokesman said the closure had only taken place after discussions with the sub-postmaster.

But other political figures, including Tory election candidate Neil Carmichael and his Green counterpart Martin Whiteside, also voiced their opposition to the end of Whiteshill Post Office.

Mr Whiteside sent a statement from Afghanistan, where he is evaluating aid projects.

"Most communities here would do anything to have a service like a local post office," he said.

"Viewed from rural Afghanistan the closure seems even more daft than ever."

ENDS