UK Royal Mail owns up over new account difficulties

Royal Mail bosses conceded the steps needed to open a Post Office Card Account could have been made easier by the Government.

It adds to growing fears that loyal Post Office customers are being encouraged to take up normal bank accounts.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents staff in Leicestershire and Rutland, wants people to open card accounts to keep post offices open.

Andy Furey, from the CWU, said post offices could lose about 40 per cent of their trade through benefits being paid straight into bank accounts. Mark Greenhill, 41, from Enderby, works at the Royal Mail at Meridian Business Park.

He said: “We want people to take up the post office card account. It will help keep post offices open and keep us in jobs.”