‘Post office must be replaced’
CONVENIENCE STORE BOSS SAYS SERVICE ISN’T VIABLE
COUNCILLORS are demanding postal services remain in their ward as the local post office prepares to close.
Knighton post office, in the Londis, in Knighton Church Road, is to shut this month.
Manager of the convenience store, Jaf Rai, said it had been a difficult decision to shut the post office, but it was no longer financially viable to have it in the store.
He said post office customers were willing to queue, but shop customers were not, and said the shop earned less from the post office than its other trade, as it did lots of free transactions.
Since the outbreak of coronavirus, there had been additional issues with footfall, as the store must limit the number of people who can be inside at any one time.
“It’s a tricky situation, but having the post office in store is impacting our existing business,” he said. “It was a collective decision to not run it any more.
“It’s a shame for the community, but it is no longer viable for us.”
Melissa March, Labour councillor for Knighton ward, said the post office was at the heart of the community.
She said she had been contacted by “many local residents who are extremely sad and frustrated that the post office on Knighton Church Road is to close”.
Councillor March is now campaigning, along with fellow councillors Dr Lynn Moore and Geoff Whittle, for postal services to remain in South Knighton.
Coun March said: “As far as my co-councillors and I can see, Post Office Ltd appears to have done very little to support the local postmaster in these uncertain times.
“There is not a lack of demand for postal services as they are a life
line for many members of the local community.
“It is disappointing that Post Office Ltd does not appear to have tried to find a solution other than to let this important local amenity close.”
Although it is too late to save the post office at Knighton Londis, the councillors have written to Post Office Ltd to ask what it is doing to try to keep post office services for South Knighton.
They have also asked if, and how, the support it offered to postmasters had changed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Post Office Ltd did not respond to this aspect of their claims when asked for a response by the Leicester Mercury.