Town’s shock as lifeline faces axe

THE bustling market town of Ware in Hertfordshire lost the last of its six high street banks a couple of years ago – as reported at the time by The Mail on Sunday.

Next month its post office also shuts. The town, pictured, with a population of 19,000, is in shock over its imminent closure. Shops along the high street have plastered their windows with ‘Save our Ware post office’ posters, imploring locals to sign a petition demanding the post office is kept. But despite more than 3,000 signatories, local MP Julie Marson has been told it will still shut.

The Conservative MP for Hertford and Stortford says: ‘The post office filled the void created by the closure of the banks – and I utterly condemn this kick in the teeth to residents.’

Two of the five post office counters at the back of the Martin’s newsagent on the high street are open. The walls are lined with red and silver tinsel in preparation for a Christmas rush – but there is little festive cheer from staff who fear they will be out of

work in the New Year. Afton French, a 37-year- old mother of six, says: ‘What will I do when the post office closes? Cry? It is such a lifeline for people like me who rely on the vital service it offers in the community.’

Afton uses the post office to top up the pay-as-you-go card for her electricity meter.

Sue Marx, 67, says: ‘The post office and banks need to have their heads knocked together by the Government to sort out this terrible mess.

‘The elderly and vulnerable that rely on face-to-face banking services are being abandoned. They do not want to bank online. As a long-time Lloyds customer I feel betrayed.’

Across the road from the doomed post office is clothes shop Sparkles of Ware. Owner Wendy Smith says: ‘Post offices in nearby villages have closed in recent years – forcing more people to rely on the branch inside Martin’s in town.

‘Trade suffered when the banks all quit. Now, with the post office going, it will get worse. It makes running a business like ours extremely challenging.’

On Friday, Julie Marson MP said she was ‘hopeful’ a new home for a post office in Ware could be found.