Framlingham postmaster Roger Tripp has bounced back

Framlingham postmaster Roger Tripp recalled the events of a year ago when his Riverside premises was inundated with water that reached two feet high causing damage and resulting in the building having to be dehumidified.

He said he “never wanted to go through that again” although he has since had more positive news as he returned to the Riverside in May following a stint where the Post Office was based at shopkeeper Bill Bulstrode’s Bulstrodes and Framlingham Toy Shop.

READ MORE: Framlingham Post Office reopens after Storm Babet flooding

“If you had asked me 11 months ago, I would have held my head in my hands and said ‘this is an absolute disaster,’ but we have moved on and we have come back from where we were,” Mr Tripp said.

In May, this newspaper revealed how Mr Tripp was returning home after spending six months at Bulstrodes in Bridge Street while repairs were carried out to get Riverside up-and-running again.

The premises was flood-proofed to prevent a repeat and electrics were moved up high.

READ MORE: Framlingham Barclays move to bring services under one roof

Framlingham Post Office was damaged by the Storm Babet flood water (Image: Submitted) Flood barriers and flood air bricks were also installed.

In August, Mr Tripp’s Post Office branch was joined in the same Riverside building by the town’s Barclays Bank, which occupies the section that had previously been used by the Royal Mail sorting office that has since relocated to Saxmundham in the aftermath of the storm.

Barclays staff had previously operated a pop-up bank from the town’s Crown hotel after the bank’s Market Hill branch closed in September due to more people conducting their banking online.

READ MORE: Framlingham Post Office set to return home after Babet flooding

However, the move to Riverside enabled Barclays customers to make cash transactions through the Post Office, which had been handling them since the Market Hill branch closure.

They are also able to speak to a member of the bank’s staff in person.

“It has been going really well. We are fully refurbished and we have got a Post Office now that is a little bit bigger because we have been able to take in some of the sorting office because Royal Mail decided they were not going to come back to Framlingham,” Mr Tripp added.

READ MORE: Framlingham sorting office decision ‘beggars belief’