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Thousands of people have shown their support for a campaign to save Dersingham Post Office, as North West Norfolk MP James Wild has “urged” Royal Mail to reconsider its plans.
The village facility’s future is up in the air after Royal Mail – a separate company to the Post Office – decided to close its sorting office and move its services and staff to Lynn and Hunstanton.
The relocation would leave the current sub-postmaster Fraser Lindsay with a 40% gap in earnings.
Fraser and his wife Maria may even have to close and sell their family home, which is attached to the post office.
But the backing he’s received has left him more hopeful.
He said: “The level of support has been quite overwhelming. We’ve been blown away by it.
“It’s not just the people in Dersingham, it is the surrounding area as there is no post office in Ingoldisthorpe or Snettisham, and we serve a wide area of smaller villages.
“But how do you stop Royal Mail from taking their postmen away from here to put in their sorting office in Lynn to save their businesses money?
“I don’t know, but we’ve got to try and do something.”
Adding his voice to the campaign to save the post office, MP James Wild said: “Many constituents have contacted me concerned about the future of Dersingham Post Office following Royal Mail’s decision to move its sorting office to Lynn which will see the post office’s income drop.
“Today I have written to Royal Mail’s CEO with a petition signed by 1,760 local people, with a thousand more signing an online petition, backing sub-postmaster Fraser Lindsay.
“I’ve urged Royal Mail to listen to the strong community voice and reconsider its plans to relocate the sorting office.”
The post office has been in the family for 44 years, with Fraser’s parents running it from 1979 before he took it over in 2001.
Under current plans, the sorting will close at the end of August and Royal Mail will make a payment of 12 months income to help identify alternative revenue sources or make changes to the operation of the post office.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We completely understand the concern such a relocation of service may cause for residents in the area.
“We would like to reassure everyone that this change will assist with the improvement in the quality of service for our customers. It will also provide improved facilities for our postmen and women.”
Sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/help-save-our-post-office-in-dersingham-from-closure
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