Union takes to High Street to protest post office closure

The High Street post office is one of 39 branches in the UK to be put out to tender as franchises, meaning the services could be moved into another shop.

Area representative Sue Trehearne and branch secretary Steve Reid were among those to join the protest on Saturday, April 16.

The group collected more than 400 signatures from concerned shoppers and will now send the petition to Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid in the hope he will get behind the campaign.

Ms Trehearne said: "We had so much support from the public. They were just coming along to get more information - they really appreciated a real campaign instead of Chinese whispers and they were genuinely worried about the staff.

"We had people of all ages signing the petition, young and old, who said they use the Post Office a lot. They had a lot of questions about what's going to happen and why and where the new post office will be."

There are currently nine members of staff at the Bromsgrove branch who, the CWU say, will be faced with a choice between redundancy, redeployment or transfer.

Ms Trehearne added: "Staff were working but came out on their lunch breaks to show their support. I think it was nice for them to see people taking real action."

Last week, the Post Office announced a 10-year agreement with WHSmith to relocate more branches into the retailer's stores, which it said would keep services on high streets.

The plans will include some of the 39 Crown branches announced to be franchised in January, but locations are yet to be confirmed.

Discussions are now underway with potential franchise partners for the Bromsgrove branch but a decision has not yet been made.

Once the Post Office has chosen a suitable franchise partner, the decision will be subject to a six-week public consultation where residents are encouraged to express their views.

The Post Office have not indicated when this decision will be made.