Manningtree post office public counter could close in coming months

The Standard has been told that the public counter or customer service point in the Manningtree High Street Post Office could be closing down in March 2023.

The counter currently performs a useful service in the area. If a postman is unable to deliver a parcel for any reason, a note is left providing the recipient an option to collect their goods at the post office which is manned from 8am to 10am each morning.

A resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “The High Street building will carry on functioning as a sorting office for the whole district, but Royal Mail will no longer pay for someone to man the public counter for just two hours a day.

“It’s going to become a lot more difficult for people to track down their parcels after a failed delivery.”

Royal mail issued its half-year results on November 17 and it included a review on its customer service points.

The review stated: “Royal Mail has introduced a range of new delivery options designed to improve our first time delivery rates.

“This includes free redelivery, the option to leave parcels in a Safeplace and in-flight redirection through the App and website.

“With customer footfall down around 50 per cent at our more than 1,200 customer service points compared to pre-pandemic, we are conducting a review to determine the optimum number of locations, taking into account efficiency and changing customer preferences.”

Royal Mail has stated that it is still currently in the process of making a decision about its customer service points.

A spokesman for Royal Mail added: “It is in that context that we are reviewing our entire network of customer service points at our delivery offices and Manningtree would fall under the terms of that nationwide review.

“But it would be wrong to conclude from that that we’ve finalised any decisions about the closure of specific customer service points.”

To read Royal Mail’s full half-year report visit bit.ly/3YWMpwa.