Residents and campaigners were out in force in Beeston on Saturday, gathering signatures for the Save Mid Norfolk Post Office campaign.

Local Cllr Elizabeth Gould, who lives on Dereham Rd, and George Freeman, who is co-ordinating the Save Mid Norfolk Post Offices campaign, spent Saturday morning meeting residents and shoppers in the Post Office, collecting signatures and inspecting the proposed route to the alternative post office at Litcham.

"The Post Office's proposal that residents without a car can access the nearest alternative post offices at Litcham (2.2miles) or Mileham (2.7miles) on foot is madness, and likely to lead to serious road traffic incidents", said George Freeman.

"Anyone who has tried to walk these routes knows the road is a busy single lane designated for lorries, with a steep hill and high banks and no pavement for most of the way."

The attached photograph shows a pensioner being forced off the road by lorries whilst trying to walk part of the route.

"The route has been recognised by the County Council as too dangerous for school children to walk or cycle, so why can the Post Office get away with telling pensioners without cars to walk it?" said Cllr Gould.

Local resident Di Walthew, who has been helping with collecting signatures for the Beeston petition, said:
"Don't they realise that in rural areas like this many people, especially the elderly and people on lower incomes, don't have access to vehicles and depend on their local Post Office?"

Beeston, which is typical of many of the Mid Norfolk threatened with closure, has a number of reasons to be worried about the closure:
 

• Over 14 families have no transport of their own and rely on the PO to collect benefits, use banking and other services.
• An estimated 30% of Beeston residents do not have access to a computer so cannot access the Post Offices alternative online services.
• Due to lack any public transport between Beeston and Litcham, prescriptions are collected from, and delivered to, the Post Office by the local health centre.
• Extensive research by the Institute of Advanced Motoring Trust (2007) found that official records of fatal and serious accidents show rural roads are the most dangerous.

"The hidden knock-on effects of these closures will be huge" said Mr Freeman, "Village life, and especially the elderly, vulnerable and children will suffer. Car use will increase. Villages will become dormitories of people cut off from each other. We must have an alternative way."

"If the Post Office 'consultation' is genuine and the Post Office is listening to local views, Beeston Post Office must not be closed" he said.

Photo: Pensioner walking to Post Office forced off the road.