Leigh MP launches campaign to stop "catastrophic" closure

Leigh MP Jo Platt has launched a campaign to save the town centre’s under-threat Post Office.

The iconic building in the middle of Leigh is among a number of Crown Post Offices which have been placed under review, and which face potential closure. Seven others at risk in Greater Manchester are in Barns Green, Harpurhey, north Manchester; Didsbury village, Manchester; Eccles, Salford; Hyde, Tameside; Prestwich; Stockport town centre and Salford precinct.

Ms Platt has posted a petition on change.org saying: “Post Offices provide essential services to our community. The announcement that Leigh Post Office on Silk Street is at risk is extremely concerning for the people of the town and for residents and local businesses alike.

“This Post Office plays a vital role in our community and its loss would be a real blow to our local economy and to the countless residents who rely upon its services. We call upon the Post Office to save Leigh Post Office.”

And she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “To lose something like this in Leigh town centre would catastrophic. As soon as I heard about it, I got the petition going.”

She said she had scheduled a meeting with Gareth Thomas, the parliamentary under secretary of state (minister for services, small business and exports) next week.

Ms Platt has also written to the Post Office chief executive Nick Read.

“I have received a response, but it is a cut and paste job that I suspect he has sent to everyone asking for their Post Office to be saved,” she said.

She said she was part of a cross-party group of MPs fighting to prevent Post Office closures.

“There are various models that could be considered, such as franchising,” she said. “We need to find a way to figure out what it would look like and how we can make them more commercially viable.

“We need to make sure we keep Post Offices and that they grow into the community hubs they need to be.”