First week of trade at new Chichester Post Office divides opinion

When the announcement broke that Chichester would soon see its service moved from a purpose built building into the modestly-sized British Bookshop Sussex Stationers, residents did not respond positively.

Nevertheless, after a week of trading from the bookshop, it seems and though the move has not been all doom and gloom.

Kelly Fitzgibbon said: “I haven’t found the Post Office to be a problem since it has changed, I don’t think they need much more space than they have now.

The service is just as good as before, I think the new Post Office is working fine from this location.”

Melanie Donohoe agreed: “I went in this morning (October 6) – there were no queues, it looked great and the staff were nice. No complaints from me.

“Of course everywhere in the city will have queues during busy times.”

Not everyone agreed that the move was successful, however.

Marie Harris said: “It’s as bad as the old one – two counters open, 25 people in the queue and lots of post office officials walking around doing not a whole lot.”

Christine King said: “I do feel worried that at busy times, such as Christmas, there just won’t be the space.”

Kirsty Jane Gathercole agreed that space would be an issue during busy times, adding that they also need more self-service machines.

Gwyneth McCue said: “I didn’t know this would be a permanent move before today, it is really disappointing.

“It looks nice inside and the service seems to be the same as before, but it is a shame to lose such a nice building.

She added: “It is a bit concerning about how they will manage come Christmas time with the volume of people, that might be a problem,

“We will just have to wait and see.”