I warned that putting post offices into WH Smith branches would put them at risk | Letters
Liz McInnes expresses concern over the closure of post offices in WH Smith branches, highlighting the risk of creating 'postal deserts.' She recalls warning the Conservative government in 2019 about the potential consequences of relocating vital postal services into failing businesses. The impending closure of the Middleton post office exemplifies her fears and raises questions about access to essential services for local communities.
- ▪Liz McInnes warned in 2019 about the risks of moving post offices into WH Smith branches.
- ▪The Middleton branch of TG Jones is set to close, taking the post office with it.
- ▪McInnes shares concerns about communities becoming postal deserts due to these closures.
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/18/i-warned-that-putting-post-offices-into-wh-smith-branches-would-put-them-at-risk |
| Publication time | Mon, 18 May 2026 17:00:41 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-18T17:14:56.685Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-18T17:14:56.685Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | Hf6BbRb9WHxr |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
‘I share the concerns of the Communication Workers Union about communities becoming postal deserts.’ Photograph: Nell Freeman (work experience)/The GuardianView image in fullscreen‘I share the concerns of the Communication Workers Union about communities becoming postal deserts.’ Photograph: Nell Freeman (work experience)/The GuardianPost OfficeLettersI warned that putting post offices into WH Smith branches would put them at riskLiz McInnes says her fears about the move back in 2019 are coming true as towns such as Middleton will lose access to postal services with TG Jones closingMon 18 May 2026 13.00 EDTLast modified on Mon 18 May 2026 13.03 EDTShareIn 2019, I warned the Conservative government of the danger of moving post offices into branches of WH Smith (Fears of ‘postal deserts’ as…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Guardian — UK.