Villagers’ postal woes

Cllr Alan Roughley

Furious villagers have lashed the post office after the shock resignation of their postmistress.

Pensioners could face a time consuming journey to collect their weekly allowances when Jackie Rodgers leaves the landmark Denshaw post office next month.

Angry villagers, who aired their views at the Denshaw Community Association’s annual meeting, said considerable hardship could be caused to elderly residents who may not have cars to reach the nearest post office facility at Delph, two miles away.

Councillor Alan Roughley, the association’s deputy chairman, said: “The post office are aware the infrequent two- hourly bus service out of the village will make it very difficult for people without a car to access any form of cash benefits.

“And I understand the Post Office do not expect a service can be set up in Denshaw until at least two months after the present post office closes.

“This is a very poor response by Post Office Ltd and villagers will have to rally round to help elderly people who will not be able to buy groceries locally.

“We have to protest at the uncaring attitude of Post Office Ltd, which is part of Royal Mail.

“There has been a post office in Denshaw for 150 years and yet this present government seems determined to wreck the network of sub post offices which has been an enormous support to rural life in this country.”

The association’s chairman, Graham Sinclair, said they had offered a room in the village hall for the Post Office sessions.

“It is a lifeline – but not the real answer,” he said. “With the shop closing too, this is a real blow to our community.”

Councillor Roughley added: “The closure is temporary until someone can be found who will take on the business and reopen the shop.

“But I query whether they really believe that will happen. The present postmistress has made every effort to build up a viable business and provide a real service to the community.

“Denshaw will be a poorer place when our post office closes,” he added.

Oldham Council is actively exploring how additional business can be directed towards the remaining 30 sub post offices. They are working closely with other public bodies such as the courts, police and fire services and job centres but such moves are likely to be too late for Denshaw.

A spokesman for Post Office Limited said: “We apologise for the inconvenience this temporary closure will cause but we can assure our customers we will be doing all we can to restore our presence in Denshaw as soon as possible.

“We are currently talking to a number of interested parties about offering a post office service in the village.”