'Is the Post Office even listening?' ask Lib Dems

9.39.15am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 18th Aug 2004

Islington Liberal Democrats have questioned the Post Office's commitment to public consultation following a letter this week from Post Office chiefs.

Liberal Democrats sent in their response to the Post Office's proposals to close three branches in the Islington South & Finsbury parliamentary constituency on 12th August. The response set out all the objections local residents had made and included a 1000-strong signature petition against the closures

Post Office bosses responded just three days later with a standard letter that failed to take into account any of the points made and which repeated the case for the three offices to close and listed alternative facilities in the area. The Post Office's official response is not due until October.

Islington South's Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson Bridget Fox, said:

"How can the Post Office pretend to take local people's views seriously when it responds to a thousand objections like this?

"It's almost as if they have made their minds up already and are not interested in what we have to say and any valid arguments we may have.

"The Post Office should be ashamed of the way it is behaving. But our local Labour MP should be even more ashamed that his government's support for this national closure programme is making the Post Office behave in this arrogant way."