Red letter day for delivery centres

SAVED . . . Royal Mail's Ashton-under-Lyne Delivery Office

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POSTAL workers and customers have been delivered some good news after Royal Mail announced it has scrapped plans to merge the Hamilton Street offices into an inter-borough depot.

The firm said it was dropping a proposal to close Ashton Delivery Office and transfer staff and services to Oldham, a move that was branded as an "unworkable, cost-saving exercise" by the Communication Workers Union in the Chronicle last November.

It also gave Droylsden Delivery Office its second reprieve in 12 months.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "After careful consideration and consultation, we have decided not to proceed with these mergers at this point in time.

"The Ashton Delivery Office and the Droylsden Delivery Office will remain at their current sites."

Following a campaign by the union, staff, Ashton and Failsworth MP Angela Rayner and Stalybridge and Dukinfield MP Jonathan Reynolds, Ashton's Fleet Street office and public pick-up counter, which employs 80 staff, will remain open.

In November, CWU area representative Paul Fenney said the move would have a huge impact on the workforce and customers who would have to travel up to 16 miles from across Tameside to collect undeliverable mail.

He said the site wasn't big enough to house the new staff and it would cause major parking issues which posed potential road safety issues to nearby Horton Mill Community Primary School and businesses.

Mrs Rayner was delighted to hear the campaign had been a success for both Ashton and Droylsden.

She said: "The announcement that Ashton Delivery Office has been saved is fantastic news to my constituents. This office is used by so many local people.

"The campaign was supported by fellow Tameside MP Jonathan Reynolds, CWU trade union, Tameside Council, Ashton councillors and, of course, the public. As the local MP I am very pleased with the outcome in what was a long campaign to save the office."

Billy Strange, CWU assistant central secretary of the Greater Manchester branch, who was involved in negotiations with Royal Mail, said: "We feel great. We've done what our members wanted us to do and it has been a good campaign involving MPs Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds.

"Royal Mail has withdrawn the proposal because it would not work. You can't put 12 houses in a space which would only fit six. There wasn't room and also there wasn't space to park the red fleet.

"The staff are over the moon and its also a good result for the public who would have had to travel all the way to Oldham to pick up their mail."