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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Stephanie Brawn

Calls for mobile Post Office van to visit Howwood to give village a service again

Calls have been made for a mobile Post Office that has hit the road in Renfrewshire to stop in Howwood where villagers have been left without a facility for the last decade.

The company has fired up its van to provide services to rural communities such as Lochwinnoch and Houston this week.

But, at the moment, there is no place for Howwood on the 13-stop route being driven by Johnstone Postmaster Ewan Shaw.

Councillor Andy Doig, who represents the village, has written to the Post Office asking for this to change after the lack of service was raised at a recent meeting of the community council.

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The Independent politician said he was keen to make sure villagers were not digitally excluded as more banks push their customers online.

“At a recent meeting of Howwood Community Council it was made very clear that there is a demand in the village for local Post Office services," said Councillor Doig.

"Being mindful of how well received it has been in neighbouring Lochwinnoch, I have written to the national consultation team for the Post Office formally requesting that the new mobile van also seeks to serve Howwood.

"Both at civic and government level we rightly talk a lot about the pressing need for social inclusion, so we need to address the many needs of people who may be on fixed incomes, suffer from low wages, or are only existing on the basic state pension, to make sure they are not digitally excluded.

"Not everyone has the desire, the money, or the ability to navigate the byzantine corridors of internet banking apps.

"This is a real problem in our towns and villages across Renfrewshire, but I would say especially for elderly villagers who were told when the banks left, they could still use the Post Office but in most cases, they too have gone."

The high-sided Mercedes Sprinter has a counter set-up in the back and a writing surface for customers.

It is visiting Lochwinnoch three times a week and Houston twice a week.

The Post Office said it has taken the request to add Howwood on board and will look at whether it is possible.

A Post Office spokesman said: “We are delighted to have started the mobile Post Office in the Johnstone area.

"We would like to get the current route established and we will then will undertake a period of review to look to see if any additional stops can be added.

"We want to thank the Postmaster for Johnstone for providing this service."

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