Campaigners are demanding that Teignmouth Post Office is spared from a massive cull of branches announced last week.

Protesters gathered outside the post office on Den Road on Saturday afternoon (November 16) calling on the government to provide proper funding for post offices and demanding that the Post Office Ltd finds an alternative location before the current branch closes down.

Post Office bosses plan to offload 115 crown post office branches as part of a major overhaul of the business.

‘We have long held a publicly-stated ambition to move to a fully franchised network and we are in dialogue with the unions about future options for the directly managed branches,’ a Post Office spokesperson said.

However, protesters believe moving to a franchised post office would be a catastrophe. ‘You only have to look at Newton Abbot to see what a disaster closing Teignmouth Post Office could be,’ David said. ‘The franchise post office in Newton Abbot has had numerous problems.’

In the summer, Newton Abbot’s post office, which runs from Costcutter on Queen Street, was forced to operate under reduced hours due to staffing issues amid reports of staff complaints about an excessive workload and feeling that they were treated unfairly.

Dawlish Post Office, which operates from the One Stop shop in The Strand, has also had problems and was closed for a week last month. Residents have made numerous complaints about lack of staff training, long queues and parcels not being accepted.

Teignmouth residents are desperate to retain their post office on Den Road. ‘The post office is a vital service for the community. We cannot afford to lose this valuable asset. I hope councillors can get their act together and do something,’ said Paul Burgess.

‘Elderly people use the post office to draw their pensions. They won’t be able to do that if this post office closes. Instead, they’ll have to get a taxi up to Ashleigh Way which many can’t afford,’ pointed out Julie Dingley. ‘It’s going to affect a lot of people that we work with and help at Volunteering in Health,’ she added. Katie Russell was also concerned about the impact on the elderly. ‘They’ll have to go to other towns and it won’t be fair on them having to make the extra journey,’ she said.

‘The staff in this post office are second to none,’ commented Jane Bray. ‘I’ll be sad to see it go – they really go the extra mile.’

‘We are considering a range of options to reduce our central costs. This includes considering the future of our remaining directly managed branches, which are loss-making,’ a Post Office spokesperson said.

The Post Office has a network of around 11,500 branches. However, the majority of these are operated by franchise partners or independent sub-postmasters. Only 1%, or around 115, of its post offices are crown post offices that are directly managed by Post Office Ltd. Teignmouth is one of these 115 directly managed branches.

Another protest is planned for Saturday (November 23) in Teignmouth Triangle.