Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s post was boosted last week with a special delivery by hand, as members of Herefordshire’s Save Our Post Offices campaign took the issue all the way to Downing Street.
Led by Hereford Conservative candidate Jesse Norman, the group of 28 campaigners, which also included Independent councillors Glenda Powell from South Wye and Sally Robertson from Burghill, handed in a 9,558 signature petition protesting against the closure programme, as well as a copy of local historian Jean O’Donnell’s book John Venn and the Friends of the Hereford Poor, and a bottle of Bulmer’s Original cider.
“Three weeks ago, we had 7,200 signatures on the petition, but there has been a late rush and we now stand at over 9,500, or nearly 1 in 7 of all houses in the county,” said Jesse.
“It’s an astonishingly high number – the highest we have seen in any single Post Office campaign in the UK – and it really reflects the strength of local feeling on this issue.
“With the petition we included Jean O’Donnell’s book on Hereford’s great social reformer John Venn to remind the Prime Minister that Post Office closures particularly affect the most vulnerable people in our society, including the elderly, the disabled, young mothers with children, and those living in rural areas. The cider is to remind him of the finer things in life,” Jesse added.
The campaigners were later welcomed by Leominster MP Bill Wiggin, who arranged for them to visit the House of Commons and listen to a parliamentary debate, and the day ended with a welcome from London Mayor Boris Johnson.
l Post Office Limited has announced it will close 2,500 post offices nationally to save money, and the complete list of those to close in Herefordshire will be published on Wednesday, August 27, followed by a six-week consultation period.
