Petition presented to House of Commons in bid to save Fife Post Offices

Six Post Office branches in Fife are being closed.

Signed by over 1300 residents, the petition – launched by MP Wendy Chamberlain, North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie and the local Lib Dem council group – calls on the CJ Lang Spar group and the Post Office to halt plans to close service counters in local branches at Newport-on-Tay, Balmullo, Ladybank and Tom Morris Drive, St Andrews. This follows a decision by the company in June to remove the outlets, causing deep concern among affected communities.

Ahead of being called to present the petition, the North East Fife MP said: "This petition has been well received and the strength of the response from local people in North East Fife is clear, post office services are still needed and wanted in our communities.

"It is disturbing that these local life-line service is under threat. It has big consequences for the local community and forces more people to travel to access the services they need. That’s why my Lib Dem colleagues and I have launched this petition calling on the Post Office and Spar to maintain these services."

Willie Rennie, who contacted Spar and the Post Office as soon as the closures were announced, added: "It is deeply troubling that local people are experiencing this turmoil. There are many options available to ensure that local people don't lose access to these essential services and to keep stores viable at the same time. We want to make sure that everything that can be done is being done before jumping straight to this last resort."

SPAR announced in June that Post Office counter services at six of its Fife branches are to close.

The services are due to close later in 2021.

Spar said the decision followed 18 months of negotiations with the Post Office and admitted that the services were not viable at some of its branches.

The announcement was greeted with widespread concern from politicians across Fife.

Ms Chamberlain and Mr Rennie also secured a commitment from Post Office representatives to work to find alternative locations for the post office counters.