Boaler Street Post Office News, Liverpool

Local residents who use Boaler Street Post Office have been on a roller-coaster of emotions in recent weeks.

First the LibDems told everyone that the Post Office was under threat of closure - going so far as to use a photo of the Boaler Street Post Office sign to illustrate their "campaign" on leaflets right across the city. The Post Office was even featured in the Liverpool Echo when local people were interviewed about their feelings on a possible closure. Everyone was very upset.

Now Post Office users in the Boaler Street area are reeling in shock again, having learnt that the whole campaign was a sham, dreamt up by the LibDems as a vote winner.

A month ago Labour’s Louise Baldock went in the Echo calling on the LibDems to put the record straight. On the letters page she said "Adam Crozier of the Royal Mail has said that if the people of Britain do not use their Post Offices then inevitably some of them will shut down. I think we all understand this message - if you value it, use it. It is as simple as that. This is a national problem not a Liverpool problem in particular. I call on Councillor Bradley, the LibDem leader of Liverpool City Council, to reassure the people of Kensington that there are no current plans to close the Post Office featured in your articles."

The silence, as they say, has been deafening. Not only have the LibDems refused to apologise or put the record straight but they have gone on repeating the lie that our Post Office could close, over and over again in their leaflets. Those people who, in good faith, returned the LibDem petition to keep Boaler Street and other Post Offices open now feel cheated, lied to and let down.

Local pensioner Alma told us "I understand the local post master is furious, it is really important to him that local people believe that his business is successful and one they can rely on. Let’s hope the LibDems haven’t created a problem where none existed to begin with. This is a total disgrace, shameful opportunism at its worst. Nobody round here will ever believe a word they say and speaking personally, I wouldn’t vote LibDem if you paid me."