Post Office Closure Will Leave Disabled Stranded

The proposed closure of Marchington post office will leave disabled and elderly people in the village stranded according to local Conservatives opposing the closure.

In the official advice document, given to customers using the Marchington branch, they are told to use either Sudbury or Draycott in the Clay post offices once the closure takes place.  However, both branches require navigating steps, making it difficult for wheelchair users and the infirm.  Sudbury in particular has a number of step steps.

Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Burton Andrew Griffiths said,

“A worried resident contacted me about the steps, and said they just wouldn’t be able to go inside to collect their pension if they had to go to Sudbury.  Both Sudbury and Draycott are really excellent braches, but it seems ridiculous to expect frail and disabled people to spend hours catching numerous buses, only for them to be unable to enter the post office when they get there.  We have a perfectly good and accessible branch right here in the village that is wheelchair friendly, so why shouldn’t we keep it? This really shows just how ridiculous and ill thought out these plans are, and how rigged the criteria is that they are using“.

The official advice document issued by the Post Office Ltd directs cutomers to use the bracnches as an alternative.  Mr Griffiths will be highlight the impact on the diabled in Marchington when he makes a submission to the public consultation on the closure.