Ferndown Post Office re-opens unexpectedly

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There was no sign of this happening on Tuesday

Residents’ fears that Ferndown Post Office in Penny’s Walk would be closed permanently have been allayed, with the premises re-opening unexpectedly on Wednesday this week with a temporary postmaster.

The post office - the only one in Ferndown - had shut suddenly on 5th July with a notice on the door saying the closure had been caused by a dispute with the previous owner about the lease.

This left local people high and dry - particularly those without cars and the elderly - who had to travel to West Moors or West Parley to access postal services.

On Tuesday there had been no indication of an imminent re-opening with local people angered that despite ringing the number on the door of the post office, they had been unable to get through to anyone.

Julie Robinson district councillor for Ferndown Central who has campaigned for the re-opening of this vital facility said: “It's excellent that Ferndown post office has reopened at long last after five weeks of closure; it is just a shame that the post office area headquarters took so long in dealing with a problem that affected residents and businesses in the town but hopefully moving forward its business as usual.”

A Post Office spokesman, said: “We have been working hard to restore post office services to Ferndown, and are very pleased to announce that the post office has now reopened. We have appointed a temporary postmaster to run the branch, which will offer the same wide range of services from cash withdrawals and deposits to collecting and posting letters and parcels. We are sorry to our customers for the inconvenience caused by the temporary closure.”

This wasn’t the first time this post office had shut its doors to the public.

It closed on Thursday 30th September and Friday 1st October 2010 because of a dispute between the sub-postmistress and the post office. The situation was resolved.

There have been numerous post office closures over the last ten years, with the ones at Wimborne Road East and Stapehill closing in October 2008. The post office in Longham closed in January 2009 after a long campaign to retain it.

Marilyn Barber