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Jaywick: Post office to open again tomorrow
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| Flashback: New postmaster Nash Patel with regulars Tom and Eileen Murphy and Gill Elkins from the Jaywick and Tudor Residents' Association with the petition. Picture: ADRIAN RUSHTON (75978-1) |
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A VILLAGE post office will reopen for business tomorrow after being closed for five months.
The Tudor Parade branch in Golf Green Road in Jaywick shut in January after former postmaster, Jay Patel, retired after 20 years' service.
Tomorrow, his son Nash will take over the reins - much to the relief of locals, who gathered a 550-name petition in March to speed things up.
Since it closed, they have been forced to go to the Beach Way branch half a mile away, or Bockings Elm in Clacton, a distance of a mile.
Former regular at Tudor Parade, 75-year-old Eileen Murphy, who lives in nearby Jaywick Lane, said: "I'm really pleased about this.
"It will help a lot of people who collect their pension there.
"A lot of people aren't fortunate enough to be able to get to the other post offices easily."
However, chair of the Jaywick and Tudor Residents' Association, Sylvia Hobbs, is concerned that the five-month closure could lead to less business for Mr Patel.
She said: "A lot of customers have got used to making other arrangements so we just hope he gets the support he needs."
The re-opening of the Jaywick branch comes as the National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) warns that 3,000 branches could close without more support from the Government.
Officials are currently deciding whether to award the handling of the new Post Office Card Account to the Post Office.
The revised contract, dubbed POCA2, will replace the existing scheme used by 4 million people each week to access pensions and benefits at the Post Office.
With such transactions accounting for up to 12 per cent of subpostmasters' pay, the NFSP believes that thousands of branches could go out of business if the contract is not awarded to the Post Office.
Federation general secretary, George Thomson, said: "The Post Office Card Account is a crucial lifeline to thousands of subpostmasters already struggling to keep their businesses going.
"Furthermore, the on-going Network Change closure programme will fail if the 11,500 or so post offices which remain are not properly supported.
"The Government must therefore demonstrate that support by awarding the successor to the Post Office card account to the Post Office.
"Not to do so would be catastrophic."
Several branches in Tendring have already been given the chop due to the closure programme, including Kirby Cross, Little Bentley, Naze Park in Walton, Parkeston and Wrabness.
Meanwhile, Freeland Road in Clacton, which also closed, has been offered a lifeline due to a possible takeover by Essex County Council.
12:09pm Monday 12th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: Concerned Resident, West Clacton on 4:40pm Mon 12 May 08
Lets all hope it stays open for a while longer than the last fiasco was open for.
Over the last few years, this store and post office had become a bit of a local joke.
It had open groundworks fenced off for what seemed years, making it look derelict from the outside.
Then the is it - or is`nt it open with the post office counter.
Then we had some weeks when you could use debit and credit cards, some weeks you could not..
The other post office in Jaywick continues to trade day after day without fail, due to its post office counters assistants, all with a cheery smile, not like other offices stone faced staff.
The old saying of,
you cant get the staff, is only too true elsewhere....
Jaywickians are more than happy with their Beach Way Post Office thankyou.....
Lets all hope it stays open for a while longer than the last fiasco was open for.
Over the last few years, this store and post office had become a bit of a local joke.
It had open groundworks fenced off for what seemed years, making it look derelict from the outside.
Then the is it - or is`nt it open with the post office counter.
Then we had some weeks when you could use debit and credit cards, some weeks you could not..
The other post office in Jaywick continues to trade day after day without fail, due to its post office counters assistants, all with a cheery smile, not like other offices stone faced staff.
The old saying of,
you cant get the staff, is only too true elsewhere....
Jaywickians are more than happy with their Beach Way Post Office thankyou.....
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