Alok Sharma, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Reading West has written to Post Office Limited asking them to reconsider plans to close Lower Tilehurst and Wantage Road Post Offices.

Reading West Conservatives have been campaigning for months against the Labour Government’s plans to shut down local post offices and have collected hundreds of signatures as well as written submissions from people across Reading who believe that local post offices play a vital role in the community and need to be kept open.

Alok wrote to the Post Office’s National Consultation Team regarding the Lower Tilehurst and Wantage Road post offices: “If this is a sincere consultation exercise, with no pre-determined conclusion, I hope this submission on behalf of many local people, and others you will undoubtedly receive, will convince Post Office Limited, and ultimately the Labour Government, that it would be a grave mistake to close the above post offices. Local people believe that these are busy, well used post offices providing an excellent service and it is difficult for local people to understand the business and social rationale for their proposed closure.”

Alok added: “Alternative post offices in the vicinity are already busy and closure of the above post offices will only exacerbate this situation with even longer queues forming. Also many elderly people, especially those reliant entirely on public transport, will be greatly inconvenienced by these proposed closures with some having to make very time consuming round trips just to go to the post office.”

Photo: Lower Tilehurst Post office petition launch