I rise again to present a petition of no fewer than 800 signatures collected by users of the Rush Green post office in my constituency of Romford. Those constituents, along with many others, are deeply concerned at the possibility of the closure of the post office and others in my constituency, including the Station Road post office, the Crowlands post office, North Street post office, Gobions post office, Victoria Road post office and the Brentwood Road post office. They are also concerned at the Government’s policy to end support for the Post Office card account and hope that that policy will be reversed and that the service will be saved.

The petitioners have submitted the petition to me, which

Declares that the petitioners believe that the post office network provides a vital service to local communities in both urban and rural areas. The petitioners are concerned that the threatened withdrawal of services from local post offices, by the Government, will seriously affect the governance and more specifically, efficiency of the postal network, as well as damaging community cohesion around these post offices, which in many cases acts as a central and focal point for local community interaction.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform to reverse its announcement to end support for the Post Office Card Account 2010 thereby threatening the viability of thousands of post offices and further urges it to immediately halt its activities designed to kill off the account, and Post Office services in the Romford constituency,

And the Petitioners remain.

To lie upon the Table.