Sunderland MP urges residents to keep the pressure on bosses over Houghton Post Office closure

The Houghton office in Newbottle Street will close on Tuesday, February 15. The company says the branch will close temporarily ‘following the resignation of the postmaster and the withdrawal of the premises for Post Office use’. It has written to residents in the area and said: “Provision of a Post Office service to our customers in the local community is important to us, and we will continue to work hard to restore services in the area as soon as possible.” “We would welcome any applications from potential retail partners interested in running a branch locally on our behalf.” The letter from Post Office Network Provision Lead Gail Burnett to residents says: “I would like to assure you that we are currently investigating the options available which will enable us to reinstate a Post Office service to the local community. In exploring this, it is important that any future service is sustainable for the person operating the service, and for Post Office Limited." And it says what happens next will depend on customer numbers and usage and ‘we may take the opportunity to establish an alternative type of service’. "This may be a local style branch which runs alongside an established retail shop in newly refurbished premises. Now Houghton and Sunderland South MP Bridget Phillipson is urging constituents to keep up the pressure on Post Office management and ensure the temporary closure does not become permanent. Announcing the decision on her Facebook page, she said: “I will be writing to the Post Office Consultation Team to express my disappointment with this closure, and to highlight issues with the current service in Doxford Park. "I also encourage constituents to express their views by emailing comments@postoffice.co.uk. “This vacancy in Houghton is being advertised and the Post Office will close temporarily, but it’s important that the local residents share their views, not least because the consultation letter states that: ‘Future provision will reflect customer numbers and usage and we may take the opportunity to establish an alternative type of service’.” Support your Echo and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters. Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling Sunderland’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe - and click here to get a snapshot of the Echo’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.