Redhill Post Office Campaign Marches on...

1.32.12pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 6th Oct 2008

Sarah and Ella Carr march with the residents of Redhill to save Redhill Stores' post office.

On Monday 6th October, the Redhill Post Office campaign took to the streets in a last ditch effort to save the local post office. The Redhill Residents' Association, led by Chairman Wendy Jones, has been determined to keep their post office, sited in Redhill Stores.

With thousands of petitions being handed out by the Lib Dems and signed by residents from across Redhill and a stream of letters being sent to Post Office Ltd in protest, Monday's march brought the campaign to a climax. Representatives from all political parties joined local people to walk from Redhill Stores to the post office at Putson. Passing cars sounded their horns in support and the spirits of those protesting were clearly high.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Sarah Carr spoke after the march of the poorly thought-out closure plans;

"It is idiotic in the extreme to be even thinking of closing post offices in our county at a time when so many of our public services are under threat from this Closure Culture that seems to exist. We should be encouraging a greater diversity of services from these important community businesses, not shutting them down."

The period of public consultation on the closure plans came to an end on Tuesday 7th October. The county now has to wait to learn the results and find out whether the thousands of individual and organised protests have had an effect.