Liz Truss weighs in on future of Swaffham's sorting office

Ms Truss, the MP for South West Norfolk, said people in Swaffham had contacted her with their worries about whether the sorting office on the town’s Lynn Street would remain open.

The former PM, who resigned from the top job in October after just 49 days in office, said she had raised their concerns with Royal Mail.

The company said it was conducting a review of its customer service points across the country, because nationwide footfall to them is some 50pc down from what it was pre-pandemic. 

But Ms Truss - who has restarted her monthly emails to constituents after a 15-month gap from June 2021 to November 2022 - has argued rural areas should not be disadvantaged.

South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss, pictured during her time as prime minister in October (Image: Daniel Leal/PA Wire)

Writing in her December update, she said: “We should not be reducing infrastructure from market towns.

“I am concerned residents would have to [travel to] and from King’s Lynn to pick up post.”

The journey to King’s Lynn is a 32-mile, hour-long round trip from Swaffham, and local Conservative district councillor Ian Sherwood said such a move would be “unreasonable and out of order”. 

“You have to think of everybody - young and old, public transport and not-public transport,” he said. 

“If you were an older resident and you had no transport, it’s just not reasonable to have to go to King’s Lynn or another town to collect your parcel. 

Conservative district councillor for Swaffham, Ian Sherwood (Image: Breckland Council)

“That’s why I’m assuming, because it seems so unreasonable, that that wouldn’t be on the cards.”

Mr Sherwood said the town had already technically lost all its banks, despite some remaining building societies, so the loss of the sorting office would be another hit to the town’s amenities.

The Royal Mail sorting office in Swaffham, on Lynn Street (Image: Google)

In addition to the sorting office, there is a post office in Swaffham just two minutes’ walk down the street, at the McColl’s convenience store, but that provides a different range of services.

Royal Mail said that following the post-pandemic drop in footfall, they were conducting a review to determine the optimum number of customer service point locations, taking into account efficiency and changing customer preferences.

They did not rule out the possibility of closing Swaffham’s sorting office as part of that review.