Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, has expressed his delight at the news that the Post Office in Hullbridge will reopen before Christmas, before being completely refurbished in the New Year. The previous Post Office at Budgens closed in October but, since then, Mark has actively been lobbying the Post Office and the tenants for the new Post Office at the ‘One Stop’ store in Hullbridge, to bring about a reopening as soon as possible.
It has now been confirmed by both the Post Office and One Stop that a new, completely refurbished Post Office counter will open in the One Stop store in January 2013. However, in the interim, One Stop, supported by the Post Office, will reopen the old original Post Office counter (which dates from a few years ago, but which still exists in the One Stop store) to make sure that Hullbridge residents have access to Post Office services before Christmas. This ‘interim’ counter is now due to reopen for business on the morning of the 11th December.
Speaking about these developments, Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, said:
“I am well aware how important Post Office services are to my constituents, not least to the people of Hullbridge, so from the moment it was announced that the old Post Office in Budgens was to close, I have been working hard with the Post Office and more latterly with One Stop, to try and make sure a Post Office was reopened as soon as possible. In particular I have stressed the need throughout to get some service up and running prior to Christmas and so I am really pleased that we will have a temporary service before then, and a fully refurbished Post Office counter will be available shortly thereafter in the New Year. I would like to commend both the Post Office and One Stop for the all the work they have put into making this possible and also all those local councillors – from across the political spectrum – who have also worked hard to make this a reality. This is a great Christmas present for the people of Hullbridge and I hope that they make full use of it!”