Tesco faces fury as post offices closed

TESCO has come under fire for closing one in five post offices in its convenience stores and damaging communities.

The supermarket giant is accused of putting profits before people by ignoring campaigns to save local post offices. The retailer last year announced record profits of £1.6bn.

Councillors say sub-post offices are an important community asset, especially to the elderly - who use them to collect their pension each week.

The row stems from Tesco's acquisition of T&S Stores two years ago for £520m. The chain of 810 small stores included 330 with post offices.

Tesco is said to have shut - or is planning to close - 70 of them. One of the latest targets for closure is in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The post office in the One Stop Shop is set to close on January 7 when the store is converted to a Tesco Express.

More than 4,000 people have written to the supermarket's chief executive asking him to save it. Campaigner Stephen Lloyd described the move as 'an appalling act of corporate vandalism'.

He said: 'The Tesco supermarket chain make a lot of noise about commitment to communities, but what they are doing here and elsewhere goes against their own pledge on corporate responsibility.'

There have been similar accusations and anger elsewhere. A petition signed by more than 650 people failed to influence Tesco management, who closed the post office in Dorridge, Solihull.

There was a similar row in Hawkinge, Kent, where the post office was eventually reopened in the community centre. But councillor David Callahan believes it will not survive. 'We are doing our best to support it, but in the long term it could close for good,' he said.

A Tesco spokesman said that in some Express stores, post office counters are having to close because of limited space. But he said the company is 'pulling out all the stops' to have them relocated and is offering to meet some of the costs involved.