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Another 80 post offices under threat in Leeds
ANOTHER 80 Post Office branches face the axe in Leeds if the Royal Mail loses a £200m Government contract.
It is feared the city could be left with only 20 post office counters if the Post Office Card Account (POCA) - which processes millions of pension and benefit payments - is awarded to a rival bidder.
James Dean, spokesman for Leeds CAPOC (Communities Against Post Office Closures) said: "We have sufrfered enough in Leeds. We have lost 22 branches already and I don't think post office users in Leeds should suffer any more.
"We are really concerned about the post office card account going to another company. The Government should step in and ensure that Post Office Ltd wins the contract."
He added: "The Government has already stepped in with HBOS and Northern Rock and that shows they are capable of overriding existing laws."
Concerns are mounting that the contract – a major source of income for most branches – will be handed to PayPoint, which operates out of corner shops, off-licences and garage forecourts. An announcement had been expected by the Government in the summer but has been repeatedly delayed.
Khalid Hameed, who runs the Elland Road post office,which recently reopened after an 18-month temporary closure,fears that if the contract is opened up to rival bidders, it could sink his business forever.
Mr Hameed said: "Pensioners are my main customers, I have 250-300 of them regularly coming here.
"On a daily basis I see 100-150 people using the card account.
"My total business depends on them – if the Post Office loses the contract, it could close my business.
"I would urge the Government to keep the card account contract with the Post Office and I urge customers to please come forward and use your post office branches."
Lindsay Hoyle MP, a member of the Commons business and enterprise select committee, fears a decision has already been taken to strip the Royal Mail of its POCA contract.
Asked what the impact of handing the entire to POCA contract to PayPoint would be, he added: "80 per cent of Post Office counters would close."
He stressed that the post office shops may survive, but that the core postal counter services would die out in the majority of branches.
Mr Hoyle's comments follow a warning from the National Federation of SubPostmasters that only 9,000 post offices would soon be left out of a network of 17,000 just a few years ago.
Federation general secretary George Thomson said: "The consequences for the Government of not awarding this contract to the Post Office will be dramatic. At least 3,000 offices will close in about 14 or 15 months, on top of the 5,000 that the Government has closed in the past five years.
The Department of Work and Pensions said: "The contracting process is still ongoing and no decision has been made."
A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: "POCA is out to tender at present so it would be inappropriate for us to comment as we are awaiting an announcement from Government."
The Royal Mail is already axing 63 branches in West Yorkshire, including 23 in Leeds. This will leave a network of 282 branches in West Yorkshire, including 100 in Leeds.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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