Victory for residents as council pledges to install road signs to Portsmouth Royal Mail hub

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson urged the council to take action and put up signs pointing frustrated residents to the Voyager Park facility.

It comes after the Lib Dem got lost on his way to the Copnor centre – which others have had difficulty getting to – and decided immediate changes were essential.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson emailed the city council’s traffic director Alan Cufley to request his team puts up signs telling people how to get there. And now they’ve pledged to get temporary ones put up before the weekend, before unveiling permanent ones in the new year.

Martin Lavers, assistant head of transport, said: ‘We visited the site to look at what signs are needed.

‘We’re getting some temporary ones made in time for Christmas and will order some permanent ones, to be installed as soon as possible.’

The Voyager Park facility, on an industrial estate in Copnor, was unveiled this year after Royal Mail closed its Slindon Street and Northern Road branches in a bid to ‘modernise’ the service and centralise its operations.

But the changes have been met with fierce criticism – many say the new site is out of the way, away from public transport and that having to queue outside without any cover is unacceptable.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson said: ‘It’s down a cul-de-sac in a business park, whereas everyone knew where to go in Slindon Street.

‘It took me a good 10 minutes of being lost to find it.

‘It seems sensible to put signs up to direct people to it, in the roads leading up to it, so people know where to turn left and right.

‘You see the queues of people there trying to collect mail.

‘This is something the council can do.

‘We have signs directing people to schools and churches, why on earth not to the post office?’

Welcoming the council’s action, Cllr Vernon-Jackson said: ‘It’s really good, but it should have been sorted before. I’m really pleased, but it shows a real lack of thought.’