Plans for temp Post Office at Milton Keynes City Council offices to restore branch after serious fire.
Milton Keynes Post Office, which suffered a serious fire as a result of a suspected arson attack whilst the branch was open serving customers, has been temporarily closed since 10 June.
Post Office Ltd and Milton Keynes City Council have worked closely to find a way to re-open a temporary branch to restore Post Office services to the city centre.
An interim branch is due to open on Wednesday 16 July at 1pm. It will be based in Milton Keynes City Council’s civic offices at 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes, MK9 3EJ. It will be operated by experienced staff from Milton Keynes Post Office.
There will be a separate entrance for Milton Keynes Post Office, on Silbury Boulevard, immediately to the right of the main entrance to Civic (where the NatWest Bank was previously based.) The branch will be on the ground floor with level access.
Paul Mead, Post Office Head of Directly Managed branches, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the unplanned closure of Milton Keynes Post Office. We thank customers for their support and understanding. We’ve been supporting employees and customers affected by the fire as they had to quickly evacuate the building when the fire quickly took hold whilst the branch was open.
“We know how important a Post Office is to residents, businesses and shoppers in Milton Keynes and we sincerely thank Milton Keynes City Council for quickly offering to provide space in its civic offices for an interim location. This will allow us to restore vital services to the city centre, whilst we work towards re-opening a permanent branch.”
There will be five Post Office counters, including at least one that is suitable for people with disabilities, which will be open full-time. Plus, there will be a Post Office tablet for online passport and driving licence renewal services. There are no self-service machines.
Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr Lauren Townsend said: “We quickly stepped in to offer ground floor space at Civic to give local people the continued convenience of a city centre post office. The space should be available for as long as it takes for the repairs to the Post Office permanent building to be finished.”
The opening hours for the interim Milton Keynes Post Office will be the same as before: Monday - Friday: 9am – 6pm; Saturday: 9am – 5.30pm.
The majority of Post Office services will still be available. Exceptions include paper-based passport check and send, Western Union money transfers and document certification and verification services including saving products and applications. SIA Licence Applications are available.
There is no space for retail, so customers will need to source stationery and packaging elsewhere. Special philatelic products will be unavailable including First day envelope, stamp cards, presentation packs, albums, mini-sheet, prestige book stamps, coin covers and smiler stamps.
On demand Post Office travel money will not be available, however, customers can pre-order currency online and they can collect it from Milton Keynes Post Office. There will not be the ability to top up a Post Office Travelcard at the interim branch.
There is no ATM machine, however, cash can be withdrawn at the Post Office counters.
Pay and display car parking is available outside the council premises at both standard and premium rates.
