Heswall Post Office closure lands Brian with £100,000 debt

Mar 19 2008 by Sue McCann, Birkenhead News

THE closure of Lower Heswall Post Office has left ex-postmaster Brian Kewley £100,000 in debt.

He now has to foot the bill for the past six years of his 10-year lease on the property even though his popular business has been taken away from him.

The Post Office service has been open for 107 years in Lower Heswall – the oldest branch in Wirral.

At the moment, Mr Kewley has a 28-month Post Office redundancy salary.

He said: “When I took over here, the Post Office had just finished the network reinvention, where they closed 17 branches down in Wirral alone.

“I can remember at interview time asking the Post Office how safe I was. I was told all the cuts are over, everything’s finished, and to be fair I think they believed that to be true, but then the government has come up with this plan to close 2,000 and I’ve had no choice – it’s been closed.”

From handing out Giros every week to customers he knew by name, he has had to “sign on” himself and is deeply concerned about his financial future.

He said: “There is a fragile business economy in the village. It is deprived of passing trade and it would be foolhardy to open up competition.

“You can get most things here from a haircut to fresh fruit and veg. So it would have to be a suitable business to fit in here.”

Caroline Cartwright, who owns the newsagents across the road, added: “Everyone’s so sad and upset about the closure.

“It’s like a part of the jigsaw and if you take part of it away, it never fits together again.

“The Post Office is at the heart of it all.”