Erith, Bexley and Belvedere delivery offices earmarked for closure by Royal Mail

Marina Soteriou , Reporter Thursday, October 7, 2010
10:37 AM

Eight Royal Mail delivery offices are facing closure after company bosses announced plans to move staff to a new site in a bid to save money.

Delivery offices in Erith, Bexley, Belvedere, Swanscombe and Longfield are faced with the axe after plans by Royal Mail to move postal workers to Dartford. Space for the delivery workers would be made vacant at the Dartford sorting office if proposals go ahead to move the existing sorting staff based there to a new sorting office - earmarked for a site in Rochester.

Bosses claim that the reason for the move is that Dartford sorting offices are more than 25 years old and do not have the space for the latest sorting machinery in which Royal Mail is investing in as an attempt to modernise the business.

Postman at the Belvedere office in Sheridan Road, Belvedere, where approximately 15 delivery workers are based, Stewart Smith, 46, said he would not be happy having to commute to Dartford.

The father-of-three from Erith said: “It is viewed with scepticism by the staff here as there were proposals to merge us with the Erith delivery office because it is bigger but they never materialised. The quality will suffer as it will result in taking a longer time to deliver the post.”

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: “Our service to our customers will continue to be a top priority in developing proposals and it is our intention to provide convenient facilities for customers wishing to collect mail. We intend to include these in our proposals. “It is envisaged, at this stage, none of the delivery offices will move until at least the Spring of 2012.”