Local Lib-Dem demands the government come clean over their post office hit list

5.49.03pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 20th Aug 2007

Martin Plant and Jackie Radford campaigning to keep local Post Offices open

After the success of the Lib-Dem led Council motion last Wednesday (15th August) that called a halt to Labours Post Office closure programme and to save our local Post Offices, Liberal Democrats in the Llynfi Valley are asking, 'Will the government publish their post offices hit list?'

The government's consultation has finished and a list has been compiled of post offices threatened with closure. The government were supposed to respond to their consultation by the end of March 2007, but have shelved their response.

Liberal Democrats in the Llynfi Valley have been campaigning to save local post offices from closure. They have been inviting local residents to back there campaign against further post office closures by signing a petition.

The Liberal Democrats are the only party to have a plan to save the post office. The Liberal Democrat five-point plan would see:

£2 billion invested in post office branches;

New branches opening where needed;

Government services continuing to be available at the Post Office;

The Post Office freed from Royal Mail restrictions to let it develop new business;

A new legal requirement for the Government to maintain the local Post Office network.

Six post offices have closed in Ogmore constituency since 1997. Under the governments plans an average of three to four more post offices per constituency will close, but no definite figures can be known until the government publish their hit list.

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner Martin Plant said,

'The government should publish their post office hit list before the local elections on May 1st 2008.

'This is the last chance people in the Llynfi Valley and across Wales will have to tell the government what they think of their plans to close at least 2,500 post offices across the UK.

'We do not know what post offices in the Llynfi Valley are under threat as the government has not published their post office hit list.

'Local people should have the chance to voice their concerns over the government's closure programme.'

Martin Plant added,

'The Conservative party are no better. Under their watch they let 3,500 post offices close and 10 years later they still don't have a plan to stop more local post offices closing.

'Between them, Labour and the Conservatives will soon have closed at least 10,000 post offices.

'We are the only party that has a plan to stop the post office closures and bring new business to the post office and services to local communities.'