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To the rescue: Could St Mary's be the saviour of local post offices

A makeshift post office could open at a Putney church if plans for safeguarding the area's services get the go-ahead.

The Rev Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of St Mary's Church, Putney Bridge, will look into running a limited counter service in the church's Brewer building, which is already home to a busy café.

It would aim to serve customers of the two sub-post offices at 209 Lower Richmond Road and 279 Putney Bridge Road, which face the chop as part of nationwide cutbacks.

Dr Fraser said: "The Brewer building is equidistant between the two Putney closures and could provide some services - perhaps the "post office lite" that Post Office chiefs have been talking about recently.

"In any event the church is passionate about trying to find ways to address the very real concerns of this community about these closures and their impact on the elderly and vulnerable."

The church hall would not provide all the services currently offered by post offices, such as passport applications or television licences, but would allow people to post parcels and items for recorded delivery.

Putney MP Justine Greening said: "St Mary's Church is a well known centre for the community that people already use for lots of different reasons. It could be a natural choice but there's a long way to go."

Eight post offices in the borough are earmarked for closure in June, despite local campaigns to save them.

Wandsworth Council is seeking a meeting with Post Office chiefs to put forward the suggestion for the church hall, as well as a business proposal to preserve the post office in New Covent Garden market, which serves some 300 companies.

Although the council would not reveal the exact details of its proposal for the New Covent Garden Market post office, a spokesman said there was a "business case for keeping it open".

Wandsworth's deputy leader Councillor Maurice Heaster said: "We think both these proposals could be very successful and offer local residents and businesses continued post office counter services at a time when the local network is shrinking rapidly.

"Much will depend on the attitude of the Post Office. We have come up with a solution that would lessen the impact of their local closure programme but we need to persuade them to support it."

10:58am Wednesday 21st May 2008

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