King’s Park post office set to shut next month
Fearslocalswillbewithoutservices
JONATHAN GEDDES
King’s Park residents are facing the prospect of no post office, after the current postmaster confirmed will shut it down in September.
The mail service is currently based in the Day Today newsagent on Castlemilk Road, but owner Imran Waseem says he can’t afford to keep it running unless he is allowed to move it further down the street, to the Costcutter store he also runs.
That has been denied by the Post Office, and now locals are facing having to use the services in Croftfoot instead.
Mr Waseem believes that will be a blow to the local community, although postal chiefs insist they will attempt to have the service back as soon as possible.
He said: “It’s going to be too much for to get them to go to King’s Park Avenue or Aitkenhead Road.
“There are a number of elderly people who use it and they like to come in, talk to someone and buy a paper and some milk.
“We wanted to move the service to the Costcutter – there is more business there and it would be easier to have the store there.
“We’re trying our best to keep it in the community for the older customers, the ones who cannot just do everything online.”
The final day for the post office will be September 10.
Mr Waseem told the Reformer that the problems started in 2017, when the postal service became reliant on commissions.
Due to the newsagent’s small size, the costs of running the service soon outstripped any money coming back in.
He added: “It has been like pouring money into a hole and I cannot do that any more. If there aren’t many customers we’re making no money, but we are still paying for a sub postmaster.
“Without more trade we cannot keep it going. We’ll sell stamps and get 1p per stamp – it’s not sustainable.
“This has been a problem since the Post Office switched everything to being at the front counter.”
The Post Office reiterated that they hoped the closure would be temporary.
A spokesperson said: “We can confirm Castlemilk Road Post Office is due to close temporarily in September, following to the resignation of the postmaster and the withdrawal of premises for Post Office use.
“While we always work hard to maintain Post Office services, from time to time, branches do temporarily close.
“When this happens, we always look to restore services as quickly as possible, as we know how important Post Offices are to communities.
“We will continue to keep the community updated with our plans. Any retailer or small business owner interested in running the Post Office and incorporating it into their business should email nd.enquiries@ postoffice.co.uk or visit www. runapostoffice.co.uk.”