Richard Holden, Member of Parliament for North West Durham, has successfully campaigned to prevent the ATM at Billy Row Post Office being removed, following the announcement that it would be scrapped from the Post Office in a move that would have seen residents unable to easily access their money.
The Post Office announced this year that cash points in their branches across the country were to be removed – one in five Post Offices will lose their cash machines and a decision was made to include the cash machine in Billy Row Post Office in the removal scheme. The Post Office in Billy Row contains the only cash point in the village.
Richard lobbied both the Post Office and Link, the service provider for most of the UK’s cash machines, to keep the ATM in the Post Office after residents raised concerns about the impact it would have on them. Richard visited Billy Row to visit the Post Office and meet with residents to discuss their concerns.
Commenting, Richard said:
“I am delighted for local people that my campaign was successful and that the Billy Row Post Office will see the retention of its AT for years to come
“Access to cash is hugely important, especially for the elderly and those budgeting. North West Durham has lots of village communities and it’s vitally important that no one in any of these communities has any difficulty accessing their money.
“I want to thank the Post Office for their recognition of the importance of access to cash for those in Billy Row and the wider community and I look forward to working with them on their new ATM strategy.
“My campaign to get a free-to-use cash machine in Moorside for local residents there continues, and I’ve had some very good early meetings with LINK progressing my campaign on this too.”
Ruth Singleton, Postmistress of the Billy Row Post Office and Shop said:
“It’s just fantastic to have had Richard’s support on this. A few weeks ago we were genuinely considering whether or not we could survive without the cash machine but this campaign has totally turned things round for us and will make a real difference to the community. I cannot thank Richard and his team enough for the great support that they’ve given us and the work they’ve done to get this decision reversed.”