At its meeting on Thursday last week, the Council heard from a CWU representative who explained what the service would look like after the Shrewsbury sorting office is closed.

Chair of the Trades Council, Brett Davis said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous that a letter sent from one end of Shrewsbury to another should have to go to Chester first. That doesn’t seem to be economically sensible nor is it adhering to green policies. It surely has to impact customer service.”

Under the proposals, the Royal Mail sorting centre in Shrewsbury will be closed, with 162 jobs leaving Shrewsbury and sorting work will be divided between Wolverhampton and Chester. Shrewsbury sorting centre is classed as a ‘high performing’ sorting office whilst Wolverhampton is classed as ‘low performing’.

Chair of the Trades Council, Brett Davis continued: ‘whilst it doesn’t make economic sense, it doesn’t make sense for those employed at Shrewsbury who have worked hard to make it a ‘high performing’ centre. It also doesn’t make sense for Shrewsbury. Look at the jobs we have lost already: Copthorne Barracks, Uniq Desserts, Barrats shoes, Peacocks, and we’ve also heard recently of the threat of Shropshire dinner ladies and Shropshire ambulance personnel losing their jobs.

Public sector jobs losses in Shropshire will lead to private sector job losses as there is less money in the economy and ultimately will lead to a downward spiral that will see Shrewsbury fast become a ‘ghost town’.

Related Article: Royal Mail announce plans to relocate mail processing operations away from Shrewsbury.