London Councils' anger at post office closures 

Commenting on the announcement today by Post Office Ltd to close 155 offices across the capital, Chairman of London Councils, Councillor Merrick Cockell, said:

"These closures will have a devastating impact on local communities across the whole capital. Not only will they hit the vulnerable members of our society who rely on post offices to get benefits and pay bills but also our local shops and businesses as well.

"The Post Office may feel they have done London some sort of favour by not closing all the offices they had planned to, thanks to the persuasive arguments from local councils and residents. However, today's announcement still means that the capital has lost disproportionately more post offices than the rest of the country.

"Now the Post Office must outline its plans to ensure that its remaining offices will have the capacity to deal with the increase in demand for their services especially at peak times. If it does not invest in them there is a real danger the Post Office could lose more customers.

"The local post office is an important part of people's lives and this short-sighted approach by the Post Office will drain away the lifeblood of many of our communities."