MP takes village post office return petition to No.10

Lib Dem Freddie van Mierlo has been to parliament, along with residents from Horspath village to petition bringing back a recently closed post office

An Oxfordshire MP has presented a petition with more than 500 signatures, in parliament to get a local Post Office service back after it closed earlier this year.

Lib Dem Henley and Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo, along with residents from Horspath village, just outside of Oxford has been campaigning to get it reopened.

The branch closed in 2011 because of the Horizon scandal and the outreach service, operated by the Great Milton Post Office, opened at the Horspath Hub 3 years later.

The Post Office says alternative services are within its criteria of being 3 miles or less away.

Judy Kent ran the outpost service from Great Milton before it closed and said "getting the petition in front of politicians is a big step".

Ms Kent explained that the post office was "very important" to the community in Horspath.

She said: "Not a day went by when one or more people didn't say to me 'thank goodness you're here'".

"There was a core of our customers who are very vulnerable, who haven't got much mobility and simply can't get to these other post offices."

She said the current proposal to expect customers to go from Horspath to Little Milton isn't "good enough".

She said she hopes this gets turned around for the community but her optimism has been "up and down".

"At the moment it's quite up and I have a lot more hope now," she added.

A Post Office spokesperson said: "We apologise for any inconvenience that these two closures may cause.

"The Post Office has undertaken a comprehensive review of the network to ensure that it continues to meet evolving customer needs in a very challenging economic climate."

"At this time we are not looking to replace Great Milton Post Office or Horspath Outreach Post Office where there have been declining customer sessions.

"The alternative branch for Great Milton Post Office is Little Milton, which is 1.4 miles away.

"There are three branches within three miles for Horspath with the closest being 2.14 miles away at Wheatley, with other options of Woodfarm and Risinghurst.

"These meet our access criteria for Post Office provision of 99% of the UK population being within 3 miles, and 90% within 1 mile of a Post Office."