11:23am Friday 27th March 2009
By Alana Lewis
FEARS are growing over the future of the Royal Mail sorting office in Calne and the possibility that its workers will be transferred to Chippenham.
Rumours are circulating about the move, which would see more than 30 employees joining colleagues in a new building on Bumpers Farm just months after the Corsham sorting office was closed.
One employee who did not want to be named said: “It is a stay of execution.
“We were told last week that we would be shut within weeks and this has been brewing for a while.
“We would be moved to Bumpers Farm in Chippenham like they did to the Corsham guys.
“This is awful because we would have to travel nine miles to work and nine miles back every day.
“Rural deliveries would be affected and anyone whose parcels were taken to the depot would have to get to Bumpers Farm to pick them up.”
It is thought Royal Mail wants to close the sorting office because the branch has overspent this year, but the Post Office counter side would not be affected.
The employee said: “The news was sprung on us last Wednesday and they are talking weeks not months.
“We are contacting councillors to get them on board to help. We are just trying – if it does not work it does not work.”
Calne Mayor Mercy Baggs has vowed to fight the closure. She said: “It seems that yet another service has been taken away from us and it is not on.
“The point is we are a growing town. We have got thousands of new houses being built here and they want to take services away.
“I have been stopped by so many people in the streets and the public is appalled by this.
“It is a service we need here and I am not prepared to go to Chippenham to pick up a parcel. If it means me having to stand in the streets to get support then I will do it.“ County councillor Tony Trotman also backs the campaign to save the sorting office. He said: “I have had people coming in who are obviously genuinely worried about their future.”
The Post Office said a review is being carried out. A spokesman said: “Faced with full competition and declining mail volumes, Royal Mail constantly reviews the operational efficiency and commercial practicality of all our units, including Calne.
“We have no confirmed plans yet, but are reviewing the situation on a regular basis.”
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