Post office closures announced

Post Office Ltd officials phoned post offices in Upper Dicker and Willingdon on Tuesday to drop the bombshell.

Tess Flower, postmistress in Cold Harbour Road, Upper Dicker, said: 'I am left up the creek without an oar.

'It is just a total nightmare for me and the community.

'The post office is the heart of my business.'

Tess Flower has been postmistress at the Dicker branch since September 2007.

She added: 'They appointed me but they had already made up their mind.'

Postmistress Andrea Etwell gathered a 1,846-strong petition against the Willingdon branch being axed.

She told the Express 200 letters had been sent to support her campaign.

This did not include individual protest letters sent to Post Office Ltd and Postwatch.

She said: 'They phoned me to say they were now treating this branch as a closure.

'Just how much support do they need to actually listen to their customers?'

'I am feeling devastated.

'We have had an amazing amount of support from all corners of the community.'

Mrs Etwell did not think she could meet the costs of raising a legal challenge against the decision.

She added: 'I am going to try my best to keep the shop open as it is the last one in the village.'

Willingdon MP Nigel Waterson called the decision a 'dreadful act of social vandalism'.

He said: 'It is the elderly and vulnerable who will be most affected.

'The Post Office has displayed an arrogant disregard for the views and needs of the public.

'Thousands of my constituents signed letters and petitions, but to no avail.

'It is a black day for those of us who live in Willingdon.'

Wannock Post Office could also be closed.

A spokesman said he had not heard from post office officials.

He added: 'We do not know when we are going to close and that is all I can say.'