Residents vow to save post office (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Residents vow to save post office

Ref. 29220-16DOZENS of Shaw residents have vowed to stand strong to save their local post office from being closed by supermarket giant Tesco.

About 50 people attended a public meeting last night at Shaw Church Hall, following the announcement of the post office's imminent closure earlier this month.

It is likely to be axed when the current One Stop shop becomes a Tesco Express store, as Tesco says there will not be enough room in the revamped shop.

Keith Williams, the chairman of Shaw Residents' Association, urged people to do their bit to save what was hailed the heart of the community.

He said: "The closure would not just affect the elderly, but also parents collecting their benefit. The post office's closure would result in considerable hardship for many people."

The post office, in Ramleaze Drive, is near George Tweed Gardens, a sheltered home in Pilgrim Close that houses about 90 pensioners.

Jean Waller, 64, who lives in the sheltered home, said: "Thousands of people will be affected if the post office closes. You never go into the post office and find it empty.

"We are asking people to start their own petitions and we hope thousands more names will be signed up against the closure."

If the post office were to close, the nearest one would be at Asda in the West Swindon Centre, which is about a mile away.

Mother-of-three Sarah Francome-Gibson, 41, of Old Shaw Lane, said: "We are in danger of losing the whole sense of community.

"I would be prepared to boycott the new store as I am fortunate to have a car and shop elsewhere. But many people can't."

The area's borough councillor, Garry Perkins (Con, Shaw and Nine Elms), said: "We need to ask Tesco to put people in front of profit. The post office has always been the heart of the community here."

Residents have already collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition.

Tesco, which took over the One Stop chain last year, is planning to close the One Stop shop in July and reopen it as Tesco Express towards the end of August.

Tesco spokesman Steve Gracey said the company had given the Post Office six months' notice, which is double the required length of time.

He said: "Our ideal scenario would be to keep the post office within the converted Tesco Express, but on this occasion there is physically not enough space for both.

Last week more than 40 residents gathered outside the shop, brandishing placards and waving petitions.

The petition can be signed in the church office.

Campaigners against the closure are asked to attend an area panel meeting with Swindon councillors in the Civic Offices at 7pm on Tuesday, March 30.

Objections may also be sent to South Swindon MP Julia Drown, 13 Bath Road, Swindon SN1 4AS, or Tesco chief executive Colin Holmes at T&S Stores PLC, Apex Road, Walsall, W. Midlands, WS8 7TS.

Alex Emery