Sir – I visited the Post Office presentation about the proposed move of services to WH Smith at the Blue Boar Hotel in Witney (last week’s Gazette) and was very unimpressed by the scant factual information available.

For example, there was no floor plan of the intended combined shop/post office, so it was impossible to make any reasoned assessment of the likely impact in this cramped, overcrowded shop, with its frequent and lengthy queues.

While the floor plan of the proposed post office section was indicated, the rest of the shop was shown simply as white space.

But, more importantly, the Post Office refused even to discuss the concept of franchising and their whole attitude was that their decision to relocate to WH Smith was effectively a done deal.

I was also advised that Crown post office employees would continue to enjoy their current terms and conditions if they relocated to WH Smith; however, the CWU representative stated that this was emphatically not true.

I was told that WH Smith will not offer the same employee pensions as are offered by the Post Office.

Post Office employees are not simply shop assistants and there is no assurance that future employees of any postal section in WH Smith would be of a similar quality as today’s post office employees.

Relocation/franchising might suit the Government’s aspirations for a return to profitability but emphatically does not suit local constituents’ best interests in a growing market town; the whole issue is sadly reminiscent of the worst excesses of bottom line-driven Thatcherism and must be vigorously opposed.

The presentation was totally inadequate and this whole project must be put on hold until clearer information is available.

I sincerely hope that the ridiculous idea of closing Witney Crown post office will, in fact, be abandoned.

NJ Wilcock, Manor Road, Witney