End of an era as Post Office is shut down

Mar 14 2008 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

THE iconic oval sign hanging outside Lower Heswall Post Office was taken down yesterday – marking the end of more than 100 years of service.

The closure at 1pm on Monday has left ex-postmaster Brian Kewley £100,000 in debt. He now has to foot the bill for the last six years of his 10-year lease on the property even though his popular business has been taken away from him.

The Post Office service has been open for 107 years in Lower Heswall – the oldest branch in Wirral.

Calls for Wirral Borough Council to take the Post Office on, made this week by Cllr David Kirwan, have not been taken up by the authority. And Mr Kewley, of Seabank Road, Heswall, does not believe such a scheme would work for him.

“If the council were to buy it and I worked for them rather than the Post Office, then what would happen if at the next elections the administration changed hands and decided to cut back?” Mr Kewley asks.

At the moment, he has a 28-month Post Office redundancy salary and doubts the council would be able to match this pay-off.

“When I took over here, the Post Office had just finished the network reinvention, where they closed 17 branches down in Wirral alone.

“I can remember at interview time asking the Post Office how safe I was. I was told all the cuts are over, everything’s finished, and to be fair I think they believed that to be true, but then the Government has come up with this plan to close 2,000 and I’ve had no choice – it’s been closed.”

From handing out Giros every week to customers he knew by name, he has had to sign on this week and is deeply concerned about his financial future.

“There is a fragile business economy in the village. It is deprived of passing trade and it would be foolhardy to open up competition.

“You can get most things here from a haircut to fresh fruit and veg. So it would have to be a suitable business to fit in here.” Other traders, who pop into the bare premises as Mr Kewley talks to the Daily Post, express their dismay.

Caroline Cartwright, who owns the newsagents across the road, expresses a sentiment heard countless times across Merseyside and across the nation. She said: “Everyone’s so sad and upset about it.

“It’s like a part of the jigsaw and if you take part of it away, it never fits together again.

“The Post Office is at the heart of it all.”

richarddown