Slashed post office service for Middle District 2/11/11
The post office service for the Middle District in South Uist has been cut to just four hours a week.
The area has been without a shop, petrol station or post office since John and Liz Brant retired in August. The closure of Ben Mhor stores means the elderly have to travel to Daliburgh to pick up their pension and for groceries. There is no alternative facility within a ten mile radius.
Now the post office will operate from the Cothrom centre in Orniclate, nearly four miles away from Howmore, from Monday 28th November..
The hosted service will only be available for four hours a week -
Post Office Ltd said it received only a small number of comments during the consultation.
A spokesperson said: “There were some concerns that the proposed opening times would not be sufficient to accommodate the needs of our customers.
“The proposed hours of service have been based on actual customer usage of the previous service and Post Office Ltd are confident that operating the service with these opening times will meet the needs of our customers in the local community.
“Post Office Ltd will continue to review and monitor service on an ongoing basis and should customer usage increase significantly, opening times will be adjusted accordingly.”
The new hosted service will be provided by the subpostmaster from Lochboisdale.
Kenny Lamont, Field Change Advisor, Post Office Ltd, said: “Our priority is to safeguard Post Office services to the local community in the longer term.
“The facilities and service that we provide to our customers is of paramount importance and we are confident that the new service can meet the demands of our customers in the local community and we hope it will be supported.”