WARD councillors have teamed up with Basingstoke’s MP to launch a petition to reopen one of the town’s post offices.

As previously reported in the Gazette, the Chineham Post Office closed its doors last month blaming the resignation of the postmaster as the reason.

However, Chienham ward councillors have said that this “vital service” needs to be reinstated within the area and have made calls to Tellon Capital, who are redeveloping the Chineham shopping centre to include a Post Office within its plans.

Now, a parliamentary petition to demonstrate Chineham residents’ concerns about the closure of a local Post Office branch and to call for any redevelopment proposals to include plans for a new branch to reinstate these important services.

Ward councillor, Cllr Laura Edwards said: “The whole community right across to Old Basing have relied on the Post Office in Chineham Shopping Centre. It was always busy.

“We need a Post Office in the new Centre when it is redeveloped and I urge local residents to support this petition.”

Fellow ward councillor, Cllr Elaine Still added: “As a former Postmistress I know how critical these services are too many people in our community.”

Basingstoke MP, Maria Miller has asked for a meeting with the developers Tellon Capital LLP to gain their full support for a Post Office when the site is redeveloped.

She said: “My constituents are rightly concerned that they have lost their vital Post Office services. This can cause very real problems for residents who will need to travel to another part of town to manage their finances or to simply buy a stamp. I have launched a Parliamentary petition to ensure residents’ concerns are properly heard and to call for any redevelopment to include plans for a new Post Office branch as a priority.”

Councillors and Mrs Miller will be collecting signatures in Chineham, but people can download a copy of the petition by visiting maria4basingtoke.co.uk