Vulnerable people hit hardest by London post office closures, finds GLA report

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 10th May 2004

Lib Dem Bridget Fox has welcomed the release of a new report by the GLA into post office closures in London, which has found that vulnerable Londoners such as the elderly are suffering most from post office closures in the capital. Bridget Fox has been leading the Liberal Democrat campaign against the Labour-backed cull of post offices in Islington. So far five have closed in Islington and Bridget also revealed that the Post Office are planning a further wave of closures in the south of Islington. The Lib Dem council is also running its own scrutiny into local closures and has recently quizzed residents about how the closures have affected them. Commenting on the report Liberal Democrat Bridget Fox said: "Post offices are the heart of our community, a lifeline to the elderly, the disabled and young mums and the Lib Dems will continue to fight against more closures. "We have major concerns about the impact that all these post office closures will have on Islington, on local communities, shops and on our most vulnerable residents. If the Post Office and the Government won't listen to us then I hope they take on board the GLA's report. So far consultation over closures has been a sham - the Post Office must start listening to residents concerns. Islington's Labour MPs may not care about protecting our post offices but the Lib Dems do." Terry Stacy, Liberal Democrat GLA spokesperson for Islington adds: "I'm glad the GLA have agreed with us that the Mayor must do more to help post offices, for example by making it possible to pay the congestion charge there. The Lib Dem council is doing its bit to support post offices by encouraging tenants to pay their rents there and the Mayor should follow our example."