In the latest blow to Coulsdon town centre, Royal Mail has decided to remove the evening collection facilities for letters and parcels that can’t be delivered.
A notice of the revised opening hours was posted earlier this month, with just a few days’ notice of the shift in hours. From August 8, the office is open to the public only two hours most days (four hours on Saturdays!).
“This doesn’t help people who are at work all day,” one unimpressed Royal Mail customer told Inside Croydon.
Closing times: the Royal Mail notice in Coulsdon that went up earlier this month
Royal Mail is under increasing competition from private delivery firms including Amazon and Hermes, who use delivery banks at stations and garages that can be accessed 24 hours a day, or in deals with local shops, many of which are open from 7am until 11pm.
“Bit by bit, Coulsdon is being stripped of all sorts of public services, the kind of services which used to make it a place where people wanted to live and work.
“Royal Mail has suffered through poor management for decades, running down a once proud national institution. Are these opening hours in Coulsdon some kind of test of public opinion?
“It seems certain to shift more business into the hands of the private delivery firms.”
