Malmesbury Post Office: Temporary closure sparks protest

Malmesbury Post Office is inside the High Street's Co-op but is set to close from January 13 until March 7, 2025 while a refurbishment takes place.

Residents and councillors who have asked for a temporary postal service during this time say the response from the Post Office has been "unacceptable".

They were told a temporary service would be "unviable" due to demand being "too great."

The Post Office has instead recommended that customers travel to Crudwell, Tetbury, or Sherston if they want to post a parcel.

Refusing to accept this solution, residents took to the Co-op with placards on Saturday, December 28, and made their stance clear.

They were joined by County Councillor Gavin Grant, who stood with protestors in his hometown to show his support.

"It was only through a local resident's post on Facebook that I heard that during the seven-week renovation period, the Post Office will be shut," said one Malmesbury local, Christine Eickelmann.

"This suggestion [that customers should travel to other villages to post a parcel] was obviously made by someone unfamiliar with public transport in rural areas.

The Post Office will close for almost two months (Image: Google Maps)

"Many of the customers are elderly folk without their own transport or live in households with only one car which may not be available during Post Office opening hours.

"For those people, the alternatives offered by the Post Office involve lengthy bus journeys."

Although four buses go between Malmesbury and Crudwell (the nearest Post Office) each day, the Crudwell office is only open two and a half days a week.

For Tetbury, the nearest Post Office, a bus only departs once a day, three days a week unless customers take the one-way, two-hour diversion route via Cirencester.

The Post Office has previously provided temporary services in the town or provided free transport to neighbouring branches.

"It’s an absolute disgrace," added resident Sara Gray.

Councillor Phil Exton, Mayor of Malmesbury, has now written to the Post Office demanding a temporary ‘fix’ for residents.

"We’ve known about this for some time and asked the Post Office what provision it would make to support local residents who use this service regularly. It’s taken several weeks to get a response and that response is, for us, totally unacceptable," he said.

“The Post Office is an essential facility for many vulnerable residents.

"Without access to their local post office, many vulnerable residents will be unable to process the benefits and vouchers they need to survive especially during a mid winter period."

In a statement issued to the BBC, a Post Office spokesperson explained they had "considered the use of a Mobile Post Office to provide a service in Malmesbury during the temporary closure period."

"The Mobile Post Office is designed to provide services for a couple of hours per week from a van in small rural locations with low customer footfall."

"Unfortunately, a van would not be suitable for use in Malmesbury due to the higher customer footfall in the area that is likely to result in capacity issues on the van."

But Councillor Exton added: “This makes no logical sense. The fact that the Post Office has assessed our town’s needs and decided we are ‘too busy’ surely means we need to be provided with a temporary Post Office?"