THERE have been many letters in your pages with regards the closure of our Post Office, and many people have telephoned me with their concerns.

I run my own business in Evesham, and have grown up in the town. I am not based in the High Street but as a commercial agent and chairman of Evesham Chamber of Commerce I would like to see every area of town thriving in its own right, this includes High Street, Bridge Street, Port Street and Riverside Shopping Centre.

The relocation of the post office will, without doubt, have an adverse affect on retail business in the High Street. Footfall in the area will reduce and retailers will suffer accordingly. The High Street is one of the main routes through town, and its degeneration will be a real blow for the whole of Evesham.

As G O'Donnell points out, there are many people who will not object to the move, yet there will be many more who, in five years time, ask the question "what happened to our High Street?"

I spend six days a week attracting investment into Evesham and if our High Street declines my job will be very much more difficult.

In the same letter G O'Donnell states that most of the criticism of the move comes from those with a vested interest, we all have a vested interest, we all live and work here. The Riverside Shopping Centre is now tremendously successful after its refurbishment, Bridge Street is achieving higher rents than ever before (an economic measure of its success) and neither needs the addition of the post office.

I do not intend to join the debate on the level of service that the post office will be able to provide from its proposed new location, no plans have been released to provide details of the layout. If we assume that the level of service that customers receive will not change then we only have two losers: Evesham High Street and post office employees.

As far as I can see the only winner is the post office, who will reduce their overheads to aid profitability. This makes good business sense but I would like to see further consultation with the people of Evesham as to where the post office should be moved. There are more options than the Co-op.

ROBERT JOHNSON, Johnsons Property Consultants, King Charles Court, Vine Street, Evesham.

PS These views are my own, and do not necessarily represent the view of every member of the Evesham Chamber of Commerce.