Published: Thursday, 30th October, 2008 9:35am

Dunfermline post office struggling to cope after closures

by Matt Meade

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THE CLOSURE of post offices in West Fife is leading to ever-lengthening queues at Dunfermline"s main post office.

That"s according to MP Willie Rennie, who aims to prove that closures, such as that of the Transy post office, are putting pressure on the Queen Anne Street facility.

And his views are backed by an irate customer who described the situation as 'a serious management failing.'

Mr Rennie, the Lib Dem MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, told the Press, 'A lot of people I"ve met have told me there are massive queues out the door on a regular basis.

'At the time the consultation was on for the closure of the four post offices in West Fife, I pressed the Royal Mail to explain what the effect would be on the Queen Anne Street post office.

'They gave me their figures on the secret shoppers which showed there wasn"t a problem.

'What I did agree to do at that time was to go back again, once the post offices had closed, to see what the effect was, and I have plans to monitor waiting times.'

He says he will now ask customers to provide him with evidence of unacceptable waiting times.

He added, 'Time is precious for most people - more so when you run a business.

"So I can see a lot of business customers moving a away from the Royal Mail because of this poor treatment.'

Irate customer Mike Thomson posted a complaint about waiting times on the Dunfermline Press website.

He said, 'Today for the third time in two weeks I stood in a long queue looking at empty service booths.

"To add insult to injury one of the operatives went off on his break - smoke, coffee or toilet, who knows? - but 30 wet, angry people were left waiting.

'I do not blame the floor staff at Dunfermline post office. It is clearly in my view a serious management failing.'

A spokeswoman for Post Office Ltd admitted, 'We have experienced queues in this branch recently and we are doing all we can to rectify the situation by increasing our staffing levels and reviewing service in the branch.

'Post Office Ltd apologise to customers if they feel they have had to wait too long to be served and we thank them for bearing with us at this time.'