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08
Aug 2024
Local MP tells Post Office to stop ‘fobbing off’ people in Knaresborough
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon is to meet Post Office executives this month to try to restore a branch in Knaresborough.
Knaresborough Post Office closed suddenly in June — a day after the national Post Office announced a consultation on moving the service to Lloyds Pharmacy with the same postmaster Ankur Singh.
The consultation ended last month, since when there has been no update from the Post Office.
This has caused frustration among people in the town, who now have to travel to Starbeck for the nearest full postal service. Last month Knaresborough & District Chamber director Peter Lacey said it was “diabolical” for Knaresborough to be left without a Post Office.
Mr Gordon previously wrote to the Post Office raising concerns about the ongoing lack of provision and need for a swift, long-term resolution.
Today the Liberal Democrat announced the organisation had agreed to meet — and expressed concerns about the proposed way forward.
Mr Gordon said moving into the pharmacy would reduce capacity at a time when the NHS increasingly relied on pharmacies to provide basic care needs.
He said a diminished pharmacy service would mean longer wait times, decreased patient confidentiality and increased strain on local healthcare services.
Mr Gordon said:
It is a positive step that the Post Office have agreed to meet with me to discuss the situation, but we must not be complacent. This is an urgent issue. We need to make sure that Post Office services are restored to Knaresborough, and that this is done without diminishing them or other services.
Fobbing the people of Knaresborough off with a half-baked scheme crammed in alongside another essential service is simply not good enough.
That is why I am pleased that the Post Office has finally agreed to meet with me to discuss my concerns, and hopefully make sure that we can reopen the Knaresborough Post Office as soon as possible.
Property company Depho Estates Ltd, the landlord of the building previously occupied by the post office has separately raised concerns about whether the new service should be operated by the same postmaster.
Mr Singh was sole director of VPS PVT Ltd, a Nottingham-based company that entered voluntary liquidation on June 13 owing £253,000 to HMRC and £124,000 to other creditors.
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