Residents lose bid to save post office

Notting Hill residents - including many famous names - lose their local post office today after failing in a last-minute bid for a stay of execution.

The doors of the Crown Post Office at 224 Westbourne Grove will close at 5.30pm, despite a desperate campaign to keep it open.

Final hope was extinguished at the High Court last night when a judge threw out the residents' move to seek an injunction. They had argued the closure was illegal because "there was a failure to consult properly prior to the decision to close".

The original decision in July caused a furore, with W11 luminaries such as Ruby Wax, Helen Fielding, Damon Albarn, Harold Pinter and Angela Rippon joining a highprofile campaign to save the branch.

They said the Post Office consultation had been a sham, deliberately timed for the summer holidays when fewer people were around. They said the site had been earmarked for lucrative redevelopment as a shop or restaurant.

Despite a petition of 8,000 names, confirmation of the closure came last month. Today the Post Office, part of the Government-owned Royal Mail Group plc, insisted that it had made the right decision.

A spokesman said: "We had a very full consultation over 10 weeks, which is longer than the eight weeks we normally allow.

"It attracted a lot of attention and coverage and I am sure the people of Notting Hill were aware of the proposal. There are at least eight other post offices within a mile."

However, the residents said the closure would mean hardship for the elderly and infirm who would be forced to make their way across busy roads to alternative branches.