Council saves post office from closure

The first stand-alone post office threatened with closure has been saved after a Gloucestershire town council reached a last-minute agreement with postal bosses.

The Uplands post office in Stroud was one of 26 in the county and 2,500 nationwide earmarked for closure by the government.

After the closure was announced in February, Stroud town council led community opposition and last month Post Office Ltd agreed to negotiate.

It was agreed that the post office would re-open with £10,000 of council funding for this year and £25,000 for the next.

It is the first stand-alone post office to be saved – Essex county council stepped in to provide a post office service at the Station Way branch in September, but that was part of a larger shop.

Stroud’s hard-fought battle was almost lost – campaigners managed to get a last-minute stay of execution in the High Court minutes before the branch was due to close for good.

The town council agreed to take ownership to save the  150-year-old post office because it is in an area with a high proportion of elderly and disabled residents.

Stroud mayor John Marjoram (pictured left) said he hoped the success would pave the way for other councils, but added they “should know it will not be easy”.

The branch was closed in August during negotiations, and will re-open on 10 November with a new computer system installed.