Sixteen isle post offices marked for axe in new cuts round

Published on Friday 9 May 2008 22:17

SIXTEEN island post offices are to shut in the latest round of cuts to the service, it was announced yesterday.

There will be ten closures in the Western Isles, where three others are still under review. Four more will go in Orkney and two in Shetland.

Branches will start to disappear from July, but Post Office Ltd stressed 113 will remain across the islands, providing a service that falls within national guidelines for accessibility.

It is the third round of cuts announced in Scotland. It was earlier confirmed that 44 post offices in central Scotland and 17 in the Highlands face the axe.

The latest decision comes after a six-week public consultation, during which the company attended public meetings and received petitions and letters from the public.

Sally Buchanan, Post Office Ltd's network development manager for Scotland, said they were "difficult decisions" which had "not been taken lightly".

She said 97 per cent of the area's people would either see no change to their existing branch or remain within one mile of an alternative.

Angus MacNeil, the Western Isles MP, said he was unhappy at the closures but pleased at the three being reviewed.

Alan Alexander, chairman of Postwatch Scotland, was also disappointed the Post Office decided not to introduce a mobile service for remote communities in the Western Isles, though it will review the service in a year.