THE owner of Balcombe Road post office in Horley has spoken of her distress when she was told her branch would close.

Vicky Johal, who has been running the business for six years, received a telephone call from Post Office field change adviser Keith Long to tell her the bad news. Her post office will close on Monday, May 19.

She said: "Keith Long came at the start of all this to tell me about what was happening. He was there again with another lady last month at the public meeting.

"He is the one who rang me and said I just want to let you know that we are going to close your post office', I said thanks for letting me know' and I just put the phone down.

"Then after two days they sent me a letter asking me when I was going to close. I didn't even read it at first because I was so upset."

Ms Johal said she was given two options - one was to close her business by Monday, May 19, but she had to return the forms by Tuesday, April 8 - the day the Post Office made its announcement. The other option was to close in three months, on Friday July 4, but she was told she would lose around £5,500 in compensation if she waited until then.

She said: "They even phoned me again to remind me to send the letter. I felt harassed. They have treated me badly. They didn't even respond to the petition - 1,400 people signed it and they did not even confirm they received it. I sent them a letter and no one replied." During a six-week consultation Post Office Ltd received 6,100 responses and attended 25 meetings with customers in Surrey, Berkshire and most of West Sussex . The final decision was made by network development manager Gary Herbert.

Ms Johal said: "My business is going to suffer and the customers are not happy at all. They are very upset. It's going to be very hard for me but I am going to expand my alcohol section and turn it into a Premier store - an off-licence and convenience store. I have a mortgage to pay so I have to keep going."

The closures are part of a Government drive to stem losses by closing 2,500 branches nationwide.

Some postmasters will be eligible for up to 28 months' pay as compensation.

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