EDITOR'S CHOICE CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S WEATHER VOTE It’s a year since the smoking ban came into effect in England. Has it been an improvement? Yes No

Most read Comments 1 Man seriously hurt as crash kills two Hampshire friends 2 Prison tea bar needs volunteers 3 Punched in face for a few pounds 4 Rotarians honour ex-Mayor 5 Campaigners' call to rein in expenses 6 Taxpayers foot £1m HCC furniture bill 7 Zany pram racers whizz through Ropley 8 Library chiefs dismiss downgrading 9 Records fall at Round the Island Race 10 All the fun of the Hat Fair Today | 7 Days 1 County Police HQ to move 2 Taxpayers foot £1m HCC furniture bill 3 Former councillor's home to be redeveloped 4 School's parking ban angers neighbours 5 Teenager sentenced for graffiti damage 6 Campaigners' call to rein in expenses 7 Hundreds flock to St Cross fete 8 Teenage moped riders warned

Comment | Read Comments (4)

CUSTOMERS at Winchester's new post office at WH Smith will be served by staff without specialist skills, it has emerged.

None of the 10 union members among the staff of 18 at the old Middle Brook Street office have made the switch to the new venue, which opened for business today (May 22).

The Communication Workers Union said one member moved to Andover, while the other nine decided to quit.

The Post Office would not say how many of the rest were relocating to WH Smith.

CWU branch secretary for Wessex South Central, Ray Pearce, said: "All of our members in Winchester have either taken voluntary redundancy or moved.

"Many years ago, just to get on the counter at a post office, you had to sit a pretty stiff examination, and do some pretty tough training."

The union claimed the counter staff were offered less pay to transfer to the High Street.

Some employees who earned more than £10 an hour were offered £5.85, according to the CWU.

Prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Winchester, Steve Brine, who campaigned against the move, has raised concerns about the situation.

He said: "It doesn't take a genius to work out that if you replace highly-skilled and trained Post Office clerks with regular WH Smith employees, you will not have the kind of specialised Post Office staff behind the counter which customers need from a central post office.

"This all goes to prove what I have maintained all along, that this move will work for WH Smith and the Post Office, but it will lead to a scaled down service forWinchester customers."

His Lib Dem opposite number, Martin Tod, has also campaigned against the relocation.

He said: "We've had a lot of promises from the Post Office and WH Smith about staffing and their ability to cut the queues.

"Today (Thursday) is our first chance to find out if these promises are going to be kept. In the worst case, this could be Winchester's own Terminal 5' moment.

"The fear has always been that WH Smith and the Post Office were going to take the two longest queues inWinchester and put them in a single shop."

The Post Office has insisted that its services will not be compromised by the closure of its old branch.

Its spokesman, Mike Dalton, said: "Together with our partners, WH Smith, we have spent a lot of time and effort ensuring that Post Office customers receive excellent service in a modern and more inviting environment.

"I am sure the people of Winchester will be pleased with their new Post Office branch, and I would urge all customers - existing and new alike - to try the facility out for themselves."

WH Smith regional manager, Ian Rowley, said: "It has been a huge team effort to get everything ready for the launch, and we hope customers will be pleased with the new and improved environment in which they can access the full range of Post Office services.

"Our staff have gone through extensive training to ensure we give the best possible service."

The new branch will have a team of 12 employees, of whom at least four have previous Post Office experience, said WH Smith.

The change is part of a national scheme to transfer 70 crown post offices into WH Smith outlets to stem annual losses of £70m.

*Have you been to the new site? What was your experience? Add your comments below.

10:40am Thursday 22nd May 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login