Wolverhampton Lib Dems welcome U-turn on post offices

8.40.00am GMT Fri 14th Nov 2008

The Last Post was played for Newhampton Road Post Office

Commenting on the Government's decision to allow the Post Office to retain the contract for the card account, Park Ward Liberal Democrat Councillor Robin Lawrence said, "This u-turn is very welcome news for post office owners and users. The loss of the card account would have been the final nail in the post office network's coffin."

"However, the fact remains that many more post offices will continue to close as a direct consequence of this Government's policy of removing benefits and other payments from post offices. The immediate threat to many post offices may have been averted, but the long-term prospect for many of them remains poor." Park Ward Liberal Democrats campaigned to save Newhampton Road Post Office but its future still remains bleak.

The Liberal Democrat's Work and Pensions spokeswoman Jenny Willott MP said the decision would come as a "huge relief" to postal workers and customers but argued ministers had "some explaining" to do about how it had handled the process. She said, "The government has wasted time and money and caused immeasurable heartache by dragging this process out for so long."