Bruce's 'disappointment' at final post office announcement

10.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 30th Jul 2008

The reduction in hours in post office services in Rhynie, Kennethmonth. Collieston and Lumsden whave been confirmed

Responding to the announcement that Royal Mail has made no overall changes to increase the number of post office hours for Rhynie, Lumsden, Kennethmont and Collieston, Malcolm Bruce MP expressed his disappointment.

The Gordon MP said:

"It is disappointing that the Post Office has not listened to our representations about the volumes of business that will be affected by these cuts. Many constituents and I had argued that this in itself would justify the additional hours requested.

"I will keep the situation under review. If the needs of the communities are not met, clearly Royal Mail must be made aware of the situation on the ground."

Regarding the specific areas affected he added:

"The changes to times of service in Lumsden offer a marginal improvement since the original proposals clashed with the Seniors Club meeting, but I think there was a preference for different days completely.

"I look forward to seeing the details of Royal Mail's assessment regarding their confidence in accessing Lumsden in poor winter weather conditions.

"And I am disappointed that they do not seem to have considered offering the Outreach service to Rhynie's Postmistress to run which we also made the case for.

"However, the overall announcement for Gordon is consistent with what has been happening across the country but at least these minor changes show that our representations have had some impact, if not as much as we all would have hoped for. "

ENDS

Notes to editor:

The changes have been disclosed as follows:

Montgarrie is to close as advertised

Outreach services:

Kennethmont: 3 hours total service offered from 9.00-10.30 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Lumsden: 6 hours total service offered from 11.00-14.00h on Wednesdays and 13.30-16.30h on Thursdays.

Rhynie: 8 hours total service offered from 11.00 - 15.00 on Tuesdays and 09.00-13.00h on Thursdays.

Collieston: 3 hours total service offered from 09.30 - 12.30h on Tuesdays.