POST Offices in Soham, Ely and Little Downham are facing the axe. Documents obtained by the Ely Standard reveal that branches at St John s Road in Ely, Main Street in Little Downham and Hall Street in Soham have been recommended for closure. Public consu

POST Offices in Soham, Ely and Little Downham are facing the axe.

Documents obtained by the Ely Standard reveal that branches at St John's Road in Ely, Main Street in Little Downham and Hall Street in Soham have been recommended for closure.

Public consultation on the closure starts officially tomorrow (Tuesday, July 8) and runs until August 26.

An Ely pensioner provided a consultation document handed to him by the St John's Road postmistress, which suggests that he, who has difficulty walking and suffers from arthritis, could be forced to travel to Witchford or across the city to the main branch in the High Street in Ely to do all his banking and collect his pension money.

"It will make the queues longer at the main post office and I can't stand for very long," the Cromwell Road resident said.

"What about all the businesses that do their banking there?" he added. "They can't go across town carrying the day's takings."

John Powley, county councillor for Soham and Fordham villages said: "It is with some dismay that I heard the news that it is proposed to close, amongst many others, the Post Office in Hall Street, Soham. I will be urging reconsideration of the decision in the hope that Soham Town Council, Wicken Parish Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and the county council will also raise their objections. Soham is a growing town and the majority of new developments are taking place on the northern part of the town, where Hall Street Post Office is situated. We should take into account the increase in the population, both now and in the future. In the area Wicken has no post office, Barway has no post office and the hamlets of Barcham and Eye Hill have no post office."

In Earith, the post office on the border of Huntingdonshire and East Cambridgeshire is also to close, but plans are afoot to bring services into the Riverview Hotel and extend opening hours.

A total of 23 post offices in Cambridgeshire are under threat of closure, many in small towns and villages.

INFO: To find out how you can respond to the proposed changes www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange. For more details on the closures and what you can do to help, see this week's Ely Standard. If you are concerned about local services, read about our Keep It Local Campaign.