Donington post office closure: 'We want to get the service back up and running as soon as possible'

Talks are continuing to restore Donington’s post office service as soon as possible, after the shop that it was housed in closed suddenly.

We reported earlier this month how Bargain Booze in the village’s High Street shut without warning.

The circumstances around the reasons for the closure are still unknown. Bestway Retail, which operates stores trading under the Bargain Booze name, has now said: “Bestway Retail operates a franchise business model for its local retail stores and the store in question is operated by a franchisee.

“Unfortunately the closure of this store and other local stores managed by this franchisee holder is due to circumstances beyond our control. However, we do apologise for any inconvenience caused. We are committed to working with our franchisee holders to provide convenient local retail solutions, and are doing what we can to establish the future of this store.”

But according to district councillor Jane King, the shelves in the store were already ‘nearly empty’ in the time leading up to the closure and she said: “Where was the support for this franchisee?”

She added: “As they were locking up the doors to close at the end of the last shift, the staff were told ‘don’t come in tomorrow as you have not got a job.”

Now Coun King, together with district councillors Simon Walsh and Henry Bingham, are working with the Post Office to get an alternative service installed in Donington without delay.

Coun Walsh said: “There is a team from the Post Office ready to go and it has been talked about maybe looking at the Ruby Hunt Centre or the library.

“A village needs a post office. Without a post office people will look at alternatives and they get used to alternatives. The last thing we want is another grot spot with an empty shop next to the (empty) Red Cow Hotel.”

Coun Bingham added: “I know the Post Office going is a big loss to a lot of people and we are looking into another option.”

A spokesperson for the Post Office reiterated: “We understand how important a Post Office is to a community. We are committed to providing a Post Office in this area. We are looking at different ways to see how we can achieve that as soon as possible. In the interim, alternative branches include Bicker and Quadring.”

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