Lift upgrade for post office customers

10:48am Wednesday 21st May 2008

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STATIONERY giant WHSmith has confirmed it is upgrading the lift in its Bexleyheath store, which services the town's main post office.

The company says use of the lift, which gives customers access to the first floor, has increased 10-fold since the post office was relocated.

Post Office Ltd shut Bexleyheath's crown post office and, in the face of protests, moved it into the WHSmith store further up Bexleyheath Broadway, in March.

The move was part of a nationwide decision by the Post Office to relocate 77 of its main post offices into the stationery company's stores.

Despite warnings, WHSmith put the post office on the first floor at Bexleyheath, but reassured people by saying a lift would ensure the elderly, disabled and mums with pushchairs would have easy access to post office services.

But since the move, the store's lift has broken down a number of times, leaving people the choice of climbing the 33 steps or going elsewhere.

Bexleyheath and Crayford MP David Evennett, who warned against locating the post office on the first floor, and about the unreliability of the lift, contacted both the Post Office and WHSmith following the breakdowns.

The Post Office apologised for the inconvenience to customers, but pointed out WHSmith had temporarily opened a ground floor counter to help customers.

Post Office managing director Alan Cook told Mr Evennett: "Discussions are ongoing with a view to upgrading the customer lift."

Now the group chief executive of WHSmith, Kate Swann, has written to Mr Evennett confirming work was being carried out on the lift to try to make it more reliable.

She said: "As the lift is hydraulic, the increase in use has affected its ride characteristics, which require resetting by an engineer.

"We have briefed our lift maintenance company to upgrade the necessary lift parts."

She added: "I am confident it will result in a far superior service."

But Mr Evennett said they should have thought about upgrading the lift before the post office was moved, as he had suggested.