Concern at the loss of South Heighton Post Office

11.43.14am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 26th Jul 2006

Local Lib Dems Peter Gardiner and Liz Lee are concerned about the post office closure.

Villagers in South Heighton woke up last week to find that the local post office, within the village shop, had closed.

Now local Liberal Democrats, led by Peter Gardiner (pictured) are collecting signatures calling for the post office service to be re-instated. Peter said: "Local people rely on these services, to collect pensions, child benefit, buy stamps - or just meet other residents for a chat. Many cannot make longer journeys to another post office. If the current operator is unable to continue, we must work together to find an alternative."

Pat Ost, county councillor for South Heighton, added: "Since Labour came to power, hundreds of local post offices up and down the country have closed - partly because the Government seems determined to stop many services they have traditionally provided. They have no understanding of the needs of rural areas, or the fact that we should be trying to reduce the need to travel, not increase it!"