Public consultation on Dolgarrog Post Office underway

Oct 6 2011 by Samantha Castle, North Wales Weekly News

Public consultation on Dolgarrog Post Office underway

USE it or lose it – again!

That’s the message to the people of Dolgarrog as they prepare to see their local post office counter reopened.

The branch was shut in February 2009 when bosses noticed cash had been going missing. Sub-post office worker Emma Wilding was prosecuted for stealing more than £38,234 from the branch.

Now shopkeeper Cheryl Jones, who runs a convenience store in the village, has been given the go ahead to offer post office services in her shop for a 12-month trial period.

Cheryl said: “I will have a post office here at the end of October or beginning of November.

“Customers will be able to buy postal orders, draw pensions and withdraw cash from Post Office, Barclays and NatWest bank accounts. It’s all done over the shop counter in a scheme called Post Office Local.”

Cheryl, 37, has run a convenience store in the village since May. Last month she relocated to a former washing machine repair shop , down the road from her old shop, in readiness for installing the post office counter business.

Post Office field change adviser Sarah Sampson added: “The establishment of a Post Office local service presents the best possible solution to allow us to restore services in Dolgarrog.”

During the trial year, Post Office Ltd will carefully monitor the situation to make sure the branch meets the needs of the community and provide a commercially viable alternative to the way services are currently offered.

The success of the trial is, to a great extent, reliant on customers using the post office on a regular basis. The situation will be reviewed, with customer feedback, over the coming months.

Post Office Ltd welcomes feedback on issues customers would like it to consider before a final decision is taken on this proposal. The consultation closes on November 8. Submissions can be made to Post Office Ltd, c/o National Consultation Team, PO Box 1138, St Albans, AL1 9UN, via email to consultation@postoffice.co.uk, on 08457 22 33 44 or Textphone 08457 22 33 55.