Post office opening times may affect deliveries (From Bucks Free Press)

Post office opening times may affect deliveries

7:32am Thursday 10th April 2008

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THERE are fears that urgent postal deliveries in Marlow may not make their destination in time because of a change in hours to a collection office.

Marlow callers office, a depot for sending and collecting parcels is now closed at 1pm on weekdays.

Marlow Society chairman Ron Waters fears it will have a detrimental effect for Marlow's postal service.

In a letter to the Bucks Free Press, he wrote: "This, presumably cost saving, change means that urgent deliveries will often have to wait until the next day for collection following a late morning notification of their arrival in Marlow.

"Furthermore, businesses using the depot to send post will obviously be adversely affected as many will not have their post ready to send until after the office is closed."

The society helped conduct a long campaign to get a Post Office in Marlow after the one in the High Street closed suddenly with little warning last year.

A portable cabin containing a Post Office has been put up in Dean Street car park but, according to Mr Waters, it has not proved to be an ideal solution.

He said: "This is a welcome improvement, although we would like to see better access and more free parking, particularly for the disabled.

"The residents and businesses of Marlow need and deserve a far better service than this and we are writing to protest at both the loss of facility and lack of public consultation."

Royal Mail spokesman James Taylor said: "The change in hours at Marlow callers office reflect changing customer demand and the fact that visits to callers' offices are increasingly unnecessary because of the variety of ways to arrange re-delivery, either by telephoning the delivery office, customer services or going online.

"Customers can also arrange for items to be taken to a local Post Office for a fee of 50p."

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