THE decision to ignore Innerleithen and go ahead with a weekly mobile Post Office service has been slammed by the town’s community council.

At its meeting on Monday, chairman Marshall Douglas branded the Post Office’s response to a campaign to keep a full-time service as ‘totally inadequate’ and called for talks with a representative.

The response follows a six-week consultation over Post Office plans to restore some level of service to the town, following the resignation of the postmaster at the Daymart newsagents in February.

While the consultation went on, the Peeblesshire News revealed that business-owner Andrew Caldwell had offered to bring the service back to the town.

Several weeks later, a decision was announced by the Post Office that it would provide a mobile service each Friday morning.

Mr Douglas said: “The published result of the Post Office consultation was deemed to be totally inadequate. We would like to invite the Post Office to a future meeting to understand the steps they’re taking to secure a better service for our community and to make strong representations to maintain a permanent Post Office presence in the town.”

Marshall thanked local election candidates who came together to collect signatures for a petition last month: “Thanks to Simon, Amanda, Stuart, Shona and Robin who came together to address this as a community concern, not a political one. So far, we have over 300 signatures in support of a permanent service in the town.”

Secretary Jackie Couchman has written to the Post Office to invite a representative to attend the next community council meeting.

It states: “We are a community of over 2,500 people, many of whom are elderly, many of whom do not run cars. 

“We have seen our Post Office provision slashed from a dedicated Post Office premises on our High Street to a poorly run concession in a local grocery store which did not operate at expected Post Office standards.

"When this store arbitrarily ceased Post Office trading we have been left with a mobile service, not on the main shopping street, for a meagre three hours a week. This has all happened in the space of just over two years.

"The alternatives may sound acceptable on paper, but don’t work in any meaningful way for local residents or businesses on the ground. We understand that one well-established, well-respected, local business has approached you with the offer of a compromise solution, not perfect, but offering many more Post Office hours than we now have. 

“We also understand that you were not prepared to properly consider this opportunity in a measured way, taking account the best interests of the community.”

The petition can be signed at: www.change.org/p/post-office-ltd-innerleithen-post-office.