Bohemia Village Voice

Springfield Road Post Office under threat of closure

Hercules Post Office in Springfield Road is under threat of closure. Speaking on Monday 12th November Mr Aldridge, who runs the convenience store at  Hercules said, “It will be officially announced tomorrow.   We put the petition out just an hour ago, and already we’ve filled up a page (A4) with customers’ signatures.”
He continued, “Bohemia’s post office has gone and there used to be one in Fernside Avenue, but that’s gone. There’s Silverhill, then the next nearest is the one in Battle Road.” Postmaster Kyracos Korniotis told the Voice, “There’s a lot of elderly people round here who can’t walk any more. They can’t afford a taxi to get to another post office, and if their pensions were paid through a bank, they’d still have to get to the bank to get their money. They also come here to get their groceries at the same time. We’re far away from any other shops, that’s why it’ s very, very important to keep the post office here, because many people will miss it.”
The shop itself will not close, just the Post Office element, but it will affect the numbers of people coming into the shop. The shop faces a further risk when ASDA arrives in Silverhill. 
Hercules is one of 49 local post offices in East Sussex threatened with the axe. Two others in Hastings are threatened, the Old Town P.O. in George Street, and Salmons, White Rock. The government is allowing only six weeks for consultation, so campaigners have a very limited time to save their local post offices. Hastings Borough Council is strongly opposed to the closures, which will affect elderly pensioners and other vulnerable people, and also have a detrimental impact on small businesses. 
If YOU want to support the campaign to keep the Post Office open, sign the petition.

Herculean task for postmaster Kyracos Korniotis