THE One Stop shop in High Street, Wellington, has given 12 months’ notice to the Post Office that it is giving up the Post Office franchise in the town.

It follows news that the One Stop building is to be sold – it is one of 12 Post Offices One Stop is giving up nationally. One Stop is owned by Tesco and the Post Office staff are One Stop employees.

Town councillors John Thorne and Wayne Battishill, who are campaigning for improved Post Office services for Wellington, have met Post Office external relations officer Stuart Taylor to discuss the situation.

Mr Taylor said the Post Office was committed to maintaining a premises in the town centre. He said the Post Office would shortly be advertising for a new franchisee for Wellington.

Mr Taylor believed the solution would be found from within the local community. But he was confident, even if the existing Post Office was not replaced, that the Post Office could continue to meet its universal service obligation.

Cllr Thorne said: “I was pleased the Post Office agreed to meet us and discuss the issues. I was reassured to hear the Post Office firmly intends to try to find a new franchisee.

“However, I am pressing for a new service to be an improvement on the woefully inadequate premises which currently serve Wellington. Wellington people have been let down over the years by the service we have been given and I see this as an opportunity to do much better in the future.”

Cllr Battishill said: “We have impressed on the Post Office some of the inadequacies which exist at the moment, such as the difficulty of access for customers with disabilities.

“I am pleased the Post Office has been listening to us and I hope we will end up with a much better service which a town the size of Wellington deserves.”

Local county councillor Andrew Govier added: “I hope the new franchise will provide much better facilities than the current one. As the banks have closed in the town, more people are using the Post Office for a range of services and it is always extremely busy. We need a layout which makes it better for the staff and customers to ensure that services are more accessible.”