Harrow Council is offering to take over one of the five post offices axed this month and run it from a council building.

Two weeks ago it was announced that five of Harrow's post offices are to close.

But in a letter to the new Mayor Boris Johnson council leader David Ashton (Conservative) said the council is considering taking over one of the five post offices.

He wrote: "In Harrow, we are looking at whether the council could itself play a role in saving some of these services by relocating a Post Office inside a council building.

"Like other London boroughs, we are facing the prospect of losing local Post Offices which many people regard as a key part of their high street.

"The more concerted and collective our action, the better chance we have of persuading the postal service to rein back what does appear to be a swingeing programme of cuts."

The five post offices up for the chop by June or July this year are The Hill, in High Street, Harrow on the Hill, The Quadrant in Headstone Gardens, Headstone Road Post Office, Buckingham Road in Chandos Crescent, Edgware, and Pinner Green Post Office

MP for Harrow West, Gareth Thomas (Labour), first came up with the idea of running a post office from a council building during a campaign to save The Hill post office in Harrow on the Hill.

Despite voting in favour of the post office closures across London, he said: "I have received over 300 pieces of correspondence on this issue and attended a packed public meeting so I am disappointed that despite a strong local campaign to save it Post Office Ltd has come to this decision.

"I have received confirmation from Post Office Ltd that they would be prepared to sit down with Harrow Council to discuss whether the council could take over the running of the service"

London's new mayor Boris Johnson is threatening legal action to prevent the mass closures of 155 post offices in London.

He said: "We will do everything we can to save the post offices threatened with closure.

"They provide vital services for Londoners, especially older residents and families, and they must be protected.

"Post offices are crucial in supporting local retail, where a post office closes, small businesses suffer.

"That's why we are taking legal action to challenge the closures."

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