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Thanks a slot! Royal Mail bricks up letterbox after shutting post office
FOR more than a century residents of a bustling market town have been popping their mail into the letterbox attached to the local post office – never dreaming a hole in a wall could become a casualty of cuts.
Even when Norton Post Office, at Norton, Malton, closed its doors for good it was assumed by Royal Mail customers the traditional box would remain to serve the community.
So pensioners were astonished to find when they next popped out to post a letter that the slot had been bricked up – because the sale of the post office meant it was now on private property.
Post Office officials also argued it was no longer safe for the delivery vans to park outside for the postie to fill his sack since the main street became covered in double yellow lines. Customers too, it was felt, could be in danger.
But the bureaucratic reasoning behind the decision was of no comfort to house-bound William Bradshaw, 95, a neighbour of the former post office who is now forced to fork out 5 for a taxi journey to the nearest alternative postbox every time he licks a 27p stamp.
Vans have been collecting mail from the box for a century – and despite the closure of the local post office locals hoped the
classic red box built into the office would remain.
An appeal by the pensioner and local councillors to the Royal Mail to restore the box was initially turned down. Bosses said there were suitable boxes within 500 yards walking distance.
Mr Bradshaw, who lives with wife Joan, 86, said even though the box was next door but one to his house he could only just reach it. The nearest box now was 10 minutes walk away – for an able-bodied person.
He added: "Neither me or my wife are fit enough to make it."
The Royal Mail said the post-box had to be removed earlier in the year when Norton Post Office closed and the box was then on private property.
"Unfortunately we cannot re-instate it nearby because traffic restrictions mean it would be unsafe both for our collection drivers and our customers," a spokesman added.
However, the official statement did not wash with Sally Hudson, who owns the bakery next door and was not consulted on the impact of losing the postbox on her passing trade.
She said: "It's absolutely ridiculous that they say it's unsafe to have a box here. It must have been here for 100 years with no problems.
"The street has not changed in the last few years. The van just used to pull up as you would expect. None of the delivery drivers or locals found it dangerous.
"It's like another nail in the coffin. It's just something else they're taking away that's local in the community. There are a lot of elderly people round here and they relied on it."
Local Liberal Democrat prospective Parliamentary candidate Howard Keal said: "There is no logic in removing the opportunity for people to post a letter while visiting the main shopping area or using the car park."
Alternative boxes were some distance from the postbox that had been closed.
"Elderly residents, shoppers and businesses miss the easy access to the previous post box and older people find it difficult to walk all the way to the other post boxes," he added.
Yesterday the bureaucratic position seemed to be softening with the Royal Mail saying they understood the inconvenience to customers and if a suitable alternative site could be found nearby they would consider reinstating the box in Norton.
However, the last word went to Mr Bradshaw, who did not think the old box should have been bricked up in the first place.
"I have seen plenty of postboxes in my time that are attached to houses and such like," he said. "That is no excuse to take away a vital part of our main street."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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