The Subpostmaster of Hitchin Post Office has written to Bim Afolami MP to complain about changes to parcel collections that will mean the nearest collection point will move from Hitchin to Stevenage.

The respected Andrew Brooker, who is the subpostmaster for Hitchin Post Office and the managing director of Thomas Brooker & Sons Ltd at 39 Bucklersbury - which also plays host to Hitchin Post Office, has also sent his letter of complaint to the Post Office Ltd, the National Federation of Sub Postmasters as well as Hitchin MP, Mr Afolami, to protest against collection changes on behalf of the people of Hitchin and on behalf of his Post Office and business.

From this week, the Royal Mail has withdrawn parcel collections from Post Office branches up and down the country including Hitchin.

This means the 'Customer Service point' for Hitchin residents will now be the Royal Mail local delivery office in London Road, Stevenage - a full six miles from Hitchin town centre, and the parcel will not be available for collection until two days after the first unsuccessful delivery attempt.

Mr Brooker wrote to Mr Afolami, saying: "Your predecessor The Right Honourable Lord Lilley was very supportive regarding Hitchin Post Office and for many years a customer of Brookers, sadly I now find myself once again asking for help, when I seemingly have nowhere else to turn.

"We have been informed via a circular from Post Office Ltd (POL) dated 27 April 2023, that effective from 2 May 2023, undelivered post will no longer be brought to Hitchin Post Office for collection by members of the public (as it has been since 2012), instead it will be returned to the Royal Mail (RM) local delivery office in London Road, Stevenage. This was the first official written communication regarding this change.

"I have protested this decision to POL and I have referred the matter to the National Federation of Sub Postmasters (NFSP), neither can help me as this is apparently an internal RM "operational decision". I have no direct line of contact with RM, beyond local operatives, only via POL."

The renowned Brookers gears up for the Coronation. The site on Bucklersbury also hosts Hitchin Post Office after Portmill Lane closed. CREDIT: Andrew Brooker

Mr Brooker explained that his business currently averages 2,236 parcel collections per month from Hitchin Post Office – which is already down from the 4,516 per month pre-Covid average - meaning potentially 2,000 fewer customers a month visiting his Post Office and town centre retail store.

"If Royal Mail is trying to drive parcel customers away to other service providers then they've nailed it," says Mr Brooker, adding: that: "making people drive over 12 miles from Hitchin to Stevenage and back to collect parcels is not a good decision for the people of Hitchin and demonstrates how little regard Royal Mail has for the general public, and how little appreciation for the 10 years we have been providing this service to the people of Hitchin [and] when high street businesses are already struggling for survival. Inevitably our retail business is also going to suffer from this short-sighted decision.

"The good people of Hitchin surely deserve better than this, we are a business at the heart of and committed to serving the local community - since 1876 - which is the main reason we undertook the parcel collection service at Hitchin Post Office in the first place, upon the closure of the RM Hitchin Sorting Office in Port Mill Lane, Hitchin in 2012.

"Potentially over 2,000 Hitchin residents per month will now have to travel 6.2 miles to collect their parcels from the "Local Delivery Office" in Stevenage, a 45 minute, 12 mile round trip, assuming the person has their own car, in place of one Post Office van per day. Hardly a positive step for the local environment."

Over to you Mr Afolami

See Nub News for Mr Brooker's full letter of complaint to Mr Afolami and the Royal Mail.