FROM next month, the Government will start to change the way pensioners pick up their state pensions. By 2005 it is likely all pensions will be paid direct into bank accounts but the knock-on effect from this is catastrophic for village life as small post offices close.

In the past month Nympsfield saw the closure of its sub post office and now Whitehall post office is set to follow suit. Chalford Post Office and Stores is up for sale but if a buyer can't be found to take it on it will also close.

As the future of the small post office dangles in the balance reporter Ashley Loveridge investigates

THE network of sub-post offices is at a critical level which is being felt keenly across the Five Valleys.

Post Office Limited is reportedly losing a staggering £3 million a week which is primarily due to falling customer numbers and increasing running costs. Once the department for work and pensions starts to move benefit payments from passbooks to bank accounts, sub post offices could become a thing of the past.

"There are simply not enough customers for the number of offices in towns and cities," said Paul Maisey, head of area for the Post Office

When Nympsfield Post Office closed last month after sub post mistress Rose Westwood, 68, retired after 26 years of service the Post Office said it hoped to continue the service in the village, with possibly a new community shop.

Resident Ron Easton is desperate to see this vital amenity kick started again.

"We have to get another shop, he said. It was a central point of the village."

Meanwhile, customers at Whitehall sub-Post Office received the grim news that their life-line is set to close.

Whitehall has been run by sub-post-master Peter Nichols for the past five years.

However Mr Nichols has seen custom dropping off and in the last two years he has withdrawn the stores from the business and is now actively seeking to close completely. The community that takes in Whitehall will be consulted by the Post Office. If the decision is taken to close, which the Post Office anticipates it will, it will happen in June.

The Government recently gave millions in grants to safeguard the long term future of rural post offices in the South West. But, despite this, Chalford sub-postmaster Tony Walsh has had his home, shop, tea-room and post office up for sale for more than six months.

Sadly with no forthcoming buyers he has been forced to agree a provisional closure date of May 24 and will be taking early retirement along with his wife Vanessa.

"We are going the same way that many village post offices are," said Mr Walsh.

"Our overheads are rising and fewer people are using the shop ." Mr Walsh felt that the salaries offered were far from adequate.

He said there as only been a £4,000 annual increase since 1993. Mr Walsh also runs the Chalford Hill Post Office at the other end of the village which will be taken over by his daughter Clare.

Despite the gloom both Painswick and Stonehouse Post Offices are still going strong.

In Stonehouse the town council bought the Post office last month to safeguard its future.

Changes worry pensioners

PENSIONERS Peter Bateman and Geoffrey Yost spend many a happy lunchtime on the wall collecting their pensions from Whitehall Post Office in Stroud.

Their conversations range from local politics to the latest stories in the SNJ.

But recently one subject has been a particular worrying for them. They are opposed to the pension changes and the fact that the post office at Whitehall is set to close down.

"Its a poor job," said 73-year-old Peter Bateman of Bisley Old Road.

"We have used this Post Office since we became pensioners." Mr Bateman thinks the changes to obtaining pensions will cause chaos.

"Some pensioners haven't even got bank accounts so what will they do?" said Mr Bateman.

The impending shut down at Whitehall and changes to the way pensions are to be collected has brought equal concern to fellow pensioner, 70-year-old, Geoffrey Yost of Middle Street.

"It shook me rigid to know the Post Office is closing," said Mr Yost the second longest remaining resident of Middle Street.

"We have been told that we can collect are pensions at Stroud's main branch in Russell Street. But the Stroud branch is always crowded and we have the added worry of being mugged."

Mr Yost was also very unhappy with the new regime of obtaining his pension.

"I'm used to getting money in my hand so it wouldn't be an ideal situation for me. I'm not sure what to do about it."

Council may take over at Whitehall

STROUD Town Council may consider running its own service if it cannot stop the closure of Whitehall Post Office in Stroud.

Cllr John Marjoram, the mayor, said the council would be pulling out all the stops to try to save the post office but if its efforts failed it would investigate the possibility of setting up an alternative.

"We've already lost Bowbridge Post Office and they've got the audacity to say there is alternative provision in Uplands," said Cllr John Marjoram.

"It will be old-aged pensioners who will be hardest hit. They will find it difficult to get to a different post office."

He said he did not think post offices had been helped by the Government encouraging people to have their pensions paid into the bank and allowing stamps to be sold elsewhere.

The council will be discussing the future of the post office at the next meeting of its planning committee on Monday, March 24. It will look at all the options including subsidising the service, or even running its own post office.

Cllr Marjoram encouraged anyone concerned about the loss of the post office to write to the council and to MP David Drew.

How the pension is paid

1. The pension is paid into a current account and pensioners can withdraw money using a cheque book and guarantee card free of charge at the Post Office.

2. A basic bank account allows pensioners to withdraw money using an account card and a personal identification number.

3. A Post Office card account. This is a completely new account which can be opened when claim books are withdrawn. These accounts have been specially designed to receive payments from Government departments.

Unlike the typical current account or basic bank account, the new Post Office card account cannot be used for paying money in, it is only for withdrawing money credited to the account by Government departments.

Pensioners who choose to open a Post Office card account can nominate a helper or friend to withdraw money on their behalf.

Disgust at proposed closure

GLOUCESTERSHIRE'S Green Party Co-ordinator and Stroud Town Councillor Ivi Szaboova-Baxendale said: "The last time I went to our local Whitehall Post Office, I found out about its proposed closure in June.

I am absolutely disgusted at this money-saving measure It is really important that we don't lose this valuable local facility for the top of the town. The nearest post office would be the main Post Office in the town centre which is over half mile from the Whitehall branch.

It is laughable to suggest that the Uplands Post Office on Springfield Road which is 0.9 miles from the Whitehall branch (and even further for the people from the very top of the town) could be a viable alternative for us when even the main Post Office on Russell Street could be too far for some people to walk. It will result in more car journeys and longer queues.

There are a lot of elderly people and parents with young children living in the area who will be greatly inconvenienced by the closure of our local Post Office. It is quite possible that we will end up with one Post Office to serve the entire town, for how long will it be before the Uplands residents will be receiving similar news about their small branch?"

Ms Szaboova-Baxendale said that Green ward councillors on both the Town and District Councils are already campaigning against the loss of this community facility but residents to voice their concerns as well.

Anyone concerned should write to Mr Paul Maisey, Post Office Ltd, c/o National Consultation Team, PO BOX 641, St Albans, AL1 5XN or fax him on 01727 814 435.

And to sign a petition against the closure of Whitehall Post office contact John Marjoram on 01453 750962.

Helplines

CONCERNED pensioners can find out more information by calling the customer helpline on 0845 22 33 44 or by writing to Paul Maisey at Post Office Limited c/o National Consultation Team, PO box 641, St Albans, AL1 5XN.

The Post Office is also able to supply customers with this information, free of charge, in an alternative format for people who are visually impaired. Call the Post Office helpline on 08457 22 33 44 or textphone 08457 22 33 55.