Zimmers join forces with Bridget Fox to Save Essex Road Post Office and slam Downing Street for 'insulting' response on Post Office closures

10.47.13am GMT Wed 6th Feb 2008

Veteran campaigners from the Zimmers have joined forces with Liberal Democrat Bridget Fox to Save Essex Road Post Office. Zimmers singers Dolores Murray and Rita Roberts, who use the Essex Road Post Office regularly, are fully behind the campaign and have been busy collecting petition signatures with Bridget.

Dolores has written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as to Post Office bosses, the Queen and the Mayor of London, in a bid to save the popular office in Rotherfield Street .

But Dolores is unimpressed by the reply from Downing Street, which says 'To ensure sustainability, there will need to be up to 2,500 compensated post office closures within the defined access criteria….Post Office Limited will need to take into account local factors.. such as local geography, rivers, mountains, etc…. Post Office Ltd has stated that no area will be subject to more than one round of closures… ' and concludes 'The Government's policy framework will enable Post Office Ltd to evolve to meet changing customer expectations and rise to the on-going challenges of doing business in today's marketplace".

Dolores says "It's a load of nonsense. It makes me so angry. Do they even know where Islington is? We don't have rivers and mountains. What we have is lots of people who need our local post office."

Bridget says "Gordon Brown can't pass the buck. He started these cuts when he was Chancellor; and now he's Prime Minister, Islington is still suffering.

"The reply from Downing Street says Islington will only face one round of closures. That's a lie. We've already seen ten local offices close since 1999. And the Post Office themselves are warning they may announce further closure plans later this month.

"To talk about rivers and mountains is just an insult. What does he expect the Zimmers' next hit to be - 'River deep, mountain high'?"