'˜Annoyance' as postal delivery bases shut to make way for new super hub in Portsmouth

DISGRUNTLED residents have told of their annoyance after the city's two main postal delivery offices were closed and replaced by a new super mail hub.
The Slindon Street Royal Mail collection office closed yesterdayThe Slindon Street Royal Mail collection office closed yesterday
The Slindon Street Royal Mail collection office closed yesterday

The Royal Mail’s collection centres at Slindon Street in the city centre and in Northern Road, Cosham, shut yesterday and moved to one building at Voyager Park, an industrial estate in Copnor.

Anyone who is not home when their mail is delivered will either have to go to the new premises to pick it up or arrange a re-delivery.

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Mail bosses say the move is part of the ‘ongoing transformation and modernisation’ of the mail processing and delivery operations across the UK.

But customers have hit back saying the new move is a massive annoyance.

Kieran Knight, 21, of Fratton, is a computer animation student at the University of Portsmouth and was angered by the move.

He said: ‘It’s really annoying. Here (Slindon Street) was perfect because it’s close by.

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‘But if we miss a delivery it means we’re going to have to travel further. As students, we’re broke. This is very annoying.’

The new site in Copnor has customer parking, additional counters and is purpose-built.

But Ruth Harris, branch secretary for the Communication Workers’ Union, which represents mail workers, said it could lead to more inconvenience.

Ms Harris said: ‘Customers won’t notice any real change to their service – the opening hours are longer.

‘But it is going to be more inconvenient to the public.

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‘People living in Cosham, Paulsgrove and Wymering are going to be affected.

‘The site is remote and the links to public transport just aren’t there.

‘It’s going to hit elderly customers the most.’

Ms Harris backed the modernisation plan, saying the Slindon Street site was ‘unworkable’ and ‘outdated’.

But she hit out at the 
Royal Mail for not letting people know about the move sooner.

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She said many customers were left feeling frustrated and angry at not having a chance to comment on the plans.

Mail chiefs say the new office will make it quicker and easier for customer to collect packages, adding none of the 266 jobs at the sites in Cosham and Southsea is at risk.

Estelle Baillie, Royal Mail’s delivery director, said service to customers would 
‘remain a top priority’ and that the company would ‘maintain the high level of service’ people have come to expect.

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