POSTMEN in Princes Risborough are threatening strike action after Royal Mail said it will proceed with plans to close the town’s sorting office.

More than a hundred people attended a meeting at Princes Risborough Community Centre last night to protest against the closure, including John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons.

The MP for Buckingham blasted the plans – demanding evidence that it would cut costs for Royal Mail.

The Bell Street building has already been sold to a housing developer for 'a figure above £500,000', the meeting heard, but is currently being leased back as plans are finalised to merge its operations with the Aylesbury sorting office.

Staff representative Andy Ball said all his colleagues at the Risborough office are against the move, adding residents will lose out.

Concerns were also raised about the Aylesbury site, as Mr Ball said it does not have enough capacity to take on the extra operations.

He called on Royal Mail bosses to renovate the Bell Street building, or spend more time considering options of moving to Regents Park, another site in Risborough. Staff will take industrial action as a last resort, he added.

Gary Burgess, a director of operations for Royal Mail, said the changes to the Aylesbury site had been approved by surveyors, and the move will save the company a “considerable sum of money”.

The Regents Park site had been considered, but was not a viable option, he added.

For a full report see next Friday’s Bucks Free Press.

Royal Mail previously said the move was due to the decreasing level of post and new technology. It said there will be a system which will re-deliver post if residents are out when it is first delivered (see link below for previous stories).

Residents will also be able to collect items from the town's post office, bosses say.