Good news for one village post office (From Malvern Gazette)

Good news for one village post office

5:00am Friday 29th August 2008 in News By Tarik Al Rasheed

AMIDST the doom and gloom of proposed Post Office closures. one community is celebrating “fantastic news”.

Callow End Post Office, which operates from the Bluebell pub, has been earmarked for closure and replacement with an ‘outreach’ service.

But district councillor Tom Wells has learned that this will involve moving the post office counter into the village store, where a full-time service will be operated.

“It is absolutely fantastic news, for Callow End at least,” said Cllr Wells. “In many respects, the post office will now be where it should have been from the start.

“I am delighted that we have managed to retain our village post office against all the odds, and I know that residents of Callow End will be equally delighted. But I don’t suspect that we are going to find many other success stories like this elsewhere in the district.”

Cllr Wells expects the new post office counter to open in December.

The news has also been welcomed by West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer.

“It never seemed to be very satisfactory for a post office to be run out of a pub," he said. "Forty-six hours per week of postal services will be provided from the village stores. That seems to me to be good news."