Rodger criticises part-time post office plan

11.00.00am GMT Tue 19th Aug 2008

Amy Rodger, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for East Lothian, has criticised proposals to close two post offices and make five others part-time branches, drastically reducing their operating hours. The proposals are announced as Amy steps up her campaign to save this vital local service from further cuts under the Labour government.

Post Offices in West Barns and Elphinstone will completely close and services in Garvald, Innerwick, Stenton and Drem will all see hours reduced to just two hours per week, with Gifford also looking at a vastly reduced service. Last week Labour MP Anne Moffat stated that she would come out with "with all guns blazing" to save post office in East Lothian. Amy Rodger has today issued a challenge to the Labour MP to join her campaign, sign the petition, and apologise for voting to close post offices in the first place.

Amy said: "Ms Moffat says one thing and does exactly the opposite. She has blindly supported Gordon Brown's Government, not thinking about the consequences of the continued erosion of our public services. Reducing the hours of these post offices, tantamount to closure, will cause great difficulty to those who rely on the services available at branches, particularly the elderly and disabled. That is why i launched my campaign, which hundreds of people across East Lothian have supported. I challenge the Labour MP to do the same."

She continued: "This shouldn't be a purely economic decision. A post office in a rural area is not necessarily going to have the same number of customers as a larger town, but it's still an essential part of the community. There is still time to save these Post Office services. It is time to take a stand against Labour's decision to close them and I will continue the fight to do so."