JUST before we came to the end of the post office consultation last Thursday, I wrote to the National Consultation Team to voice my concerns on the consultation over the past six weeks, with particular reference to the potential closure of Fulford Post Office.

I included with my letter a copy of my petition signed by more than 200 residents.

I expressed my great disappointment that the Post Office did not hold a public meeting in Fulford, despite the fact that I wrote to them requesting this, and my dismay to find that some of the information in their consultation documents was out-dated and irrelevant.

Unfortunately, this shambolic consultation has not been led by an examination of social and business need or viability, but simply by a desire to meet the Government's target of 2,500 branch closures.

I informed the consultation team that Fulford Post Office is a valuable resource, which plays a vital role in supporting vulnerable members of the community. I also emphasised that it provides residents, passing traffic and local businesses an important service, and that future development will increase its importance.

We can only hope now that our efforts to save Fulford Post Office have paid off.

Coun Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat councillor for Fulford, Main Street, Fulford.


* I WOULD like to sincerely thank all those who rallied round and supported my petition protesting against the proposed closure of Fulford Post Office.

The response to the petition, which called on Gordon Brown to halt the ongoing post office closure programme and keep post offices such as Fulford open, has been fantastic.

Fulford postmaster Aasif Rabbani and myself presented it to 10 Downing Street on January 16.

It was essential that we responded swiftly and demonstrated our strength and unity, and the full extent of our anger and frustration at these plans. I believe the residents of Fulford and North Yorkshire have sent a strong message to Gordon Brown which shows we will not stand by and let these closures happen.

It is vital that we protect and support our local post offices as they provide a service to our communities and once they have gone, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get them reopened.

I would also like to commend The Press's excellent campaign.

Julian Sturdy, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for York Outer, Marston Road, Tockwith, York.


* IT IS no good Hugh Bayley telling us he feels "extremely let down and angry" at the Post Office over the proposed closures in York.

The difficulties are all the Government's making. It pretends to be working to save our post offices, while actively undermining the services the Post Office provides.

The DVLA, for example, no longer tells people they can renew their car tax at the post office. Why not? Labour MP Michael Connarty explained why in the House of Commons: "We all have broadband." But Government statistics (for 2006) show that only 29 per cent of people in the lowest income brackets own a computer and only 17 per cent have an internet connection. Don't they matter?

Post offices no longer handle television licence renewals because they couldn't guarantee the BBC that a decent branch network would exist in the future. Why not? The Government won't let them.

Since Labour came to power, almost a quarter of post offices have closed, and Mr Bayley has supported all the Government legislation that led to these closures.

No plans yet regarding the future of the post office card account. The Government wants everyone to use a bank account, but more than a million people cannot obtain one because, for example, they do not have the necessary credit rating.

Lastly, the Government does nothing to remove the commercial restraints that prevent the Post Office from working with other parcel carriers.

A Government that believed its own rhetoric on sustainability would ensure that when someone tries to deliver a parcel and finds you are out they leave a card saying "collect at your local post office" instead of requiring you to travel across the city to a depot.

But Bayley blames the Post Office.

Christian Vassie, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson for York Central, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York.


* I WHOLEHEARTEDLY support the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) campaign to create greater awareness of the financial needs of rural people, which highlights community-based solutions to the provision of financial services.

However, such initiatives to offer an alternative provision of post office services will not be running in time to plug the gap left by thousands of closures this year.

Some 2,500 post office branches will close by the end of this year - and the Government is sitting back allowing the CRC to come forward with its campaign, when instead it should have done everything it could to save neighbourhood post offices. Such post offices are often the lifeblood of their communities.

The damage does not end with branch closures. Post offices are often housed within grocery or general stores in rural areas and when a branch closes local people are faced with losing the main - possibly the only - shop too.

More must be done to help rural communities, not harm them. The Government will have been responsible for the closure of more than one third of the entire Post Office network by the next election. It's a second class service from a second-class Government.

Timothy Kirkhope, MEP, Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, Main Street, Scotton, North Yorkshire.