Outrage is the response to plans to site the new post office in Hemel Hempstead on the upstairs floor of WH Smith in Marlowes.
Age Concern in Dacorum's chief executive, Caroline Player, is furious that the elderly, disabled and mothers with pushchairs will be forced to make their way up to the first floor to reach the counters of the new franchise.
She said: "We have writ
ten to the post office to voice our concerns and many of our members have done the same. But it seems that because there is a lift at WH Smith there is nothing more we can do. We have been reassured that it will be just fine for older people and that everyone is confident the new service will function well.
"The problem is that if for some reason the lift isn't working or, say, mums with buggies, toddlers and shopping can't get into it, then it will pose real difficulty for customers."
Post Office spokesman, James Taylor, insisted that WH Smith must offer access within the store that complies with the Disability Discrimination Act and that he is confident the upstairs of the Marlowes branch does not breach that legal requirement.
The town's post office is one of 2,500 in the UK to close next year and many of those will be replaced by the new outreach service in WH Smith stores.
The first public consultation on the closures began on Tuesday, October 2, in Kent, East Midlands and East Yorkshire. The consultation in Hemel Hempstead and the south east is not due to begin until next May.
It is expected the new franchised post office in Hemel Hempstead will open in August.
Post office watchdog, Postwatch, has promised to raise all concerns where it thinks they are appropriate.
Regional manager, Malcolm Butler, said: "Closures are not good news for customers, but the current post office network is unsustainable. The Government has decided change is necessary and Postwatch agrees it is preferable to have planned rather than unplanned closures. But customer inconvenience must be minimised and the consultation process must be meaningful and accessible to all."
He added that the network of 14,200 post offices lost £200 million last year and that there are four million fewer post office customer visits every week compared to two years ago – down from 28 million to 24 million.
The full article contains 401 words and appears in Hemel Gazette newspaper.
