The planned closure of a city post office, which is included on a new hitlist, will be a nail in the coffin for an entire shopping centre, an angry city councillor claimed today.
The Ivy Bush Post Office, off Hagley Road, is one of a dozen which are earmarked for closure in the north of the city, following 25 that were axed in the south.
Coun Deirdre Alden (Edgbaston, Con) said: "The Ivy Bush area has suffered a lot of problems with crime and prostitution and we've all worked hard with residents and the police to save it.
"Where once shops were closing, now the place is revitalised. There is a new minimarket on Hagley Road and most of the old problems have gone.
"Now just when things are so much better the post office wants to pull out.
"This will be the nail in the coffin for the Ivy Bush shops because without the post office they will simply die."
Mrs Alden said with post offices closed in Templefield Square, Harborne Lane, Princes Corner and Moorpool, all in Edgbaston or Harborne, people were forced to go to Harborne's High Street branch.
" This branch frequently has queues out the door, now they will be down the street as well," she said.
"I know all these proposals are out for consultation but it seems the decisions have already been made."
A Post Office spokesman said that the 12 branches now facing closure simply do not have enough customers.
