Hayling Island post box campaign at an impasse - Royal Mail response

The post box outside the old post office on Havant Road, has been closed since the summer but a recent paint job brought it back to the public’s attention. Councillor Paul Gray has led the campaign to save the post box and has started a petition.

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He said: “Royal Mail are being completely inflexible and taking a "computer says no." approach to customer service. They have pointed out that they meet their own KPI (key performance indicator) of have 98 per cent of UK homes within half a mile of a post box. This ignores the situation faced by many elderly and disabled customers, who simply can not walk that far and don't have their own transport. Stoke Village is precisely such a place, yet the Royal Mail, with their "one size fits all" model, are hitting residents with a very blunt, crude, overly simplistic policy.

"They have lied to the former Postmaster and Postmistress, giving untrue and spurious explanations for their actions. The "pinnacle" for me was the claim that the road is too busy to have a post box on it. Stoke is a small village on Hayling Island. So, applying that same "logic" rules out every significant road in every town and city in the UK.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The post box was removed due the post office closing and the property being up for sale. It now sits on private land. We reviewed the immediate area, and due to the narrowness of the pavement, and how busy the road is, there were very few options for alternative locations for a replacement post box. The safety of the public and our staff takes priority here.

“For context, Ofcom requires we keep 98 per cent of all households across the UK within half a mile of a post box. This is measured by a straight-line distance and not on foot. The closest available post boxes can be found via here: Services near you | Royal Mail Group Ltd”