Cross Gates: Petition to save Leeds Post Office under-threat of closure gains over 1,000 signatures

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Over 1,000 people have backed a campaign to save an "essential" Leeds Post Office under-threat of closure.

Post Office officials revealed on Wednesday (November 13) that 115 branches are earmarked for closure, along with around 1,000 job cuts, including four right here in Leeds.

The announcement, confirmed by Post Office chairman Rigel Railton, follows rumours of a major restructuring aimed at offsetting financial losses.

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Austhorpe Road in Cross Gates is now the subject of a Change.org petition with locals campaigning to secure its future.Austhorpe Road in Cross Gates is now the subject of a Change.org petition with locals campaigning to secure its future.
Austhorpe Road in Cross Gates is now the subject of a Change.org petition with locals campaigning to secure its future. | Google/PA

One of the four Leeds sites listed, Austhorpe Road in Cross Gates, is now the subject of a Change.org petition with locals campaigning to secure its future.

Speaking to the YEP, local resident Anne Ward said: “I can't believe that the Post Office is intending to close so many local offices.

“In our area, the Cross Gates branch is on the list for closure, but as anyone who uses it would tell you, it is always very busy and there's a queue whatever the time of day, so it's obviously needed.

“I know fewer people write letters nowadays and there are other options for parcel deliveries, but the local Post Office is valuable in so many other ways. Not everything can be done on-line, even if everyone had the skills or inclination to use that facility.”

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The closures will affect the remaining Crown Post Offices - branches wholly owned and staffed by Post Office employees. The other three Leeds branches now facing closure are The Markets on New York Street, St Johns on Albion Street and Queen Street in Morley.

The announcement was met with sharp criticism from the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which called the timing "tone deaf" and "immoral" in light of the recent Horizon scandal.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are considering a range of options to reduce our central costs. This includes considering the future of our remaining Directly Managed Branches (DMBs), which are loss-making.

“We have had long held a publicly-stated ambition to move to a fully franchised network and we are in dialogue with the unions about future options for the DMBs.”

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