UK Government gives £450M aid to rural Post Offices

The government is to provide up to 450 mln stg in financial support to rural post offices, said David Mills, chief executive of Post Office Ltd.

He said the spending, which would involve 150 mln stg annually over the next three years, will be used to keep the entire 8,500 rural branches operating.

“Without this money Post Office Ltd would not have been able to continue operating rural branches, and as a result up to 80 per cent may have closed,” he said.

The Post Office spends over 3 mln stg a week to keep these branches open.

Some aspects of the financing would have to be cleared by the EU State Aid Directorate, Mills said.