Michael Moore MP and Jeremy Purvis MSP will present the findings of the comprehensive survey of post office usage in the Borders to Post Office Ltd and to Postwatch on Thursday.

The survey was carried out in the eleven places threatened with closure of their local post office. Hundreds of surveys have been returned, and in one village more than two thirds of households responded. The findings show tremendous support for local post offices and overwhelming opposition to Post Office Ltd’s proposals:

• 80% of responders use their local post office at least weekly, with more than half of this number using it on a daily basis
• 92% of responders consider their local post office to be vital to the area
• 86% of responders believe that Post Office Ltd’s proposals for the replacement of their local post office would damage the area

Five key concerns emerged from the surveys and from the countless letters and emails that the parliamentarians have received:

• the removal of the post office threatens the viability of the village shop in many of these places, which is the often the last remaining shop in the village;
• the proposed replacement service is inaccessible to many, particularly given the significant reduction in hours, and the fact that the alternative post office is a long way away;
• the impact on vulnerable people would be significant, particularly older and disabled villagers, who receive a great deal of support from their post office;
• have future development plans for the villages, and the likely increase in demand on the post office, been fully taken into account by Post Office Ltd?
• business users would suffer, as they rely heavily on a local facility which is responsive to their needs.

One responder summed up the feelings of local people, “to remove the Post Office is to remove the heart of the village”, while another said, “the post office is an integral part of the social structure of the village”. Many responders voiced anger at the Government, with several people asking, “what has this Government got against rural areas?”

Commenting on the findings, Michael Moore said:

“I have been greatly concerned for many months about the impact of post office closures and replacement with mobile services on our local villages, but this is the first time that the scale of this impact has been quantified in all of these eleven places.

“The sheer number of responses received shows how deeply local people care about their post office, and the findings really speak for themselves, with overwhelming opposition to the replacement of post offices with hosted or mobile alternatives.”

Mr Purvis added:

“It is imperative that Post Office Ltd re-thinks its proposals in light of the findings of this survey. Legitimate questions have been raised about the evidence on which Post Office Ltd based their proposals. The harm that could be done to these communities, causing older people, businesses and those without their own means of transport to suffer in particular, is significant. A radical re-think is required.”