Call for post offices to reopen

A Nottingham MP wants two "linchpin" post offices to be reopened following the example of another authority.

The New Lenton and Carrington branches are among about 30 in the county due to close. But Nottingham South MP Alan Simpson said they were vital services.

He pointed to plans by Essex County Council to reopen several post offices and said the idea could be repeated.

Nottingham City Council said it is actively exploring other options where post offices have been closed.

Activists have the support of their MP

A spokesperson said the council would "consider the viability of alternatives in real depth before any conclusion is reached".

Official intervention

Mr Simpson said the New Lenton post office "had been seen by both the local community and the local authority as a linchpin around which you rebuilt the economic activities of this part of the city".

"And now it is a bleak and empty corner."

Although the two post offices had closed down, Mr Simpson said: "The fight has not finished.

"There is one example in the UK of a local authority that has intervened and actually got the post office to engage in a plan for re-opening post offices that they have closed."

Community hub

Mr Simpson said Essex County Council was in talks to reopen around 15 of the 30 closed post offices and the same thing could be done in Nottingham.

A meeting will be held in Lenton later about the future of the two Nottingham branches.

Colin Barratt, a campaigner against the closures, said reopening the two sites would enable them "to be used as a centre or a hub for the provision of council services as well as a post office service.

"It will also help to support the local community."