42,000 local residents to be affected by closure of post office card account

3.04.20pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 17th Oct 2006

Cllr David Ward using a Post Office Card Account

Commenting on new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats, showing that over 9,000 people in Bradford North and 42,000 in Bradford District currently use the post office card account to receive their pensions or benefits, Cllr David Ward, chair of the Bradford North Area Committee said:

"It is astonishing that the Government plans to shut this highly successful and useful service. They are destroying a service which is of great value to over 42,000 people . It is an accessible and affordable way for local pensioners and families to receive their benefits, yet the Government is proposing to axe it.

"Closing the post office card account will make it even harder for small post offices to remain open. We've already lost many Post Offices in this area in the last 5 years, forcing elderly people and those without cars to make long round trips to their nearest post offices."

In a report published yesterday, the national watchdog of postal services, Postcomm, has blamed the government withdrawal of services for post office closures. An Age Concern Report published earlier this month described post offices as a 'pensioner lifeline'.

Commenting further on these reports Cllr Ward said:

"The Government must pay far greater heed to the effects the closure of post offices have on a community - nearly 8 out of 10 people feel that the closure of their local post office would present a loss of essential local services."