Guildford MP condemns Bellfields Post Office closure

3.06.35pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 23rd Nov 2004

Local MP Sue Doughty witnessed with great sadness the closure of Bellfields Post Office today.

Despite collecting thousands of petition signatures from local residents and putting forward a strong case against closure, Post Office authorities seemed determined to ignore the local community and go full steam ahead, axing three Guildford post offices within two months - Bellfields, Madrid Road and Aldershot Road.

Sue said:

"I pay tribute to Mr Patel who has been providing a post office service for 24 years in Bellfields. He has been a great asset to the community.

"It's a great shame to see this post office go. I feel for all the pensioners and people with disabilities in the area who will struggle to get to a post office. It will cost people more to go by bus to collect their pension from the post office in Jacob's Well or to draw cash from the local cashpoint.

"The Post Office has made a decision based on wrong information despite having been repeatedly provided with the correct facts.

"Under the Conservatives we lost 4,000 post offices. Labour have continued the cull and ignored people's needs."