Campaigners are celebrating after their post office re-opened for business just one week after it was forced to close.
Bramley Post Office closed its doors suddenly last week after it was repossessed due to claims to rent arrears of £30,000.
NewRiver Retail Ltd, manager of Bramley Shopping Centre, said it had been forced to terminate the lease on the branch following the “persistent failure of the tenant of the unit to pay due rent, leaving debts in excess of £30,000”.
The YEP reported that customers were shocked that the locks were changed last Tuesday morning, without notice, leaving them and the sub-postmaster shut out.
Over the weekend a team of campaigners collected over 150 signatures on a petition to protest against the branch’s closure.
Bramley Post Office will open at 9am this morning (May 1) and a new operator is set to run the post office on a temporary basis until a long-term replacement is found.
Local MP Rachel Reeves, who has campaigned for post office services in the city, said: “The decision to close the post office was handled irresponsibly, and the community were unacceptably left in the dark.
“I was concerned about people who would be unable to access key local services at the branch.
“After a week of negotiations I am pleased services have been restored, and look forward to visiting the store.�”
A spokesman for NewRiver said: “We only reluctantly took action because we know how much local people in Bramley value the post office.
“We also see it as a very important part of our shopping centre.
“However, we really had no other alternative, after many months of trying to resolve the situation.”
“The new operator will run the post office on a temporary basis until we have found a long-term replacement.
“We can only apologise again to anybody who has been inconvenienced by the necessary action that we had to take.”
Following the sudden closure local charity Bramley Elderly Action provided transport for its pensioner members to the nearest open post office branch in the Fairfield area.
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