Victory for residents over Thatcham post office changes - for now

CHANGES to a vital post office service in Thatcham have been shelved – for now.

Earlier this year, Tesco announced the possibility of combining Post Office services with the grocery tills in its Northfield Road store.

Residents set up an online petition to save the valuable service, with residents commenting that the changes would negatively affect elderly residents, who would have to travel to The Broadway for a full counter service, and that queue times would be further exacerbated.

However, following a period of public consultation the changes have been dropped for the time being.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “In July we advised customers about the possibility of making some changes to Northfield Road post office.

“The operator, Tesco, has now decided not to proceed with any changes to the branch at this time and it will continue to operate as it currently does.”

Questions as to whether the proposals and another consultation would be reposted were left unanswered as the Newbury Weekly News went to press.

A spokesman for Tesco said: “We’ve decided not to make changes to post offices services at our store for now.

“We will of course keep the local community updated with any new proposals.”

Responding to the development, Thatcham resident Christopher Brooks said: “That’s good news hopefully the decision is a permanent one.

“The Post Office seems to have lost its identity since it split with Royal Mail.

“I would have thought that Tesco would be pleased to increase its relationship with the Post Office and not downgrading it.”

Thatcham town councillors also added their voice to the campaign saying that they felt that the changes had been ill thought through, resulting in the loss of dedicated staff as well as the loss of paying by cheque and Parcelforce Worldwide International, services considered important to small businesses.

The leader of Thatcham Town Council, Bob Morgan (Lib Dem, Thatcham South and Crookham) said: “I am very pleased that the Post Office has decided not to make changes to the services offered at the Northfield Road post office.

"Thatcham Town Council made its views clear about this – that these changes did not best serve the interests of local people.”