Post offices set to return to Bolney and Cuckfield

Rashed Haque, at the Hurstpierpoint Post Office

Bolney Post Office was operated from the Bolney Wine Estate until it closed on January 3, and Cuckfield’s former post office in the High Street closed in September 2018, after the resignation of the postmaster and withdrawal of the premises for post office use.

From March 20, Bolney residents will have their own post office in Rawson Hall.

From March 28, a new, temporary hosted outreach service will operate in Cuckfield two days a week in Queen’s Hall.

In both cases services are offered by the Hurstpierpoint postmaster, Rashed Haque.

Bolney’s post office will open every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10am-1.30pm.

A Post Office spokesman said: “Our priority is to safeguard services to the community in the longer term and the re-opening of Bolney Post Office services at Rawson Hall will enable us to maintain a Post Office service to customers in the local community in a more central location.”

The new post office for Cuckfield will operate from The Queens Hall, High Street, on Tuesday and Thursday from 9.30am to 1.30pm.

This hosted service will offer a wide range of Post Office products and services. Customers can make cash withdrawals and balance enquiries for all the main UK banks.

Post Office network change manager Samantha Coe told the Middy: “We are pleased to be able to restore Post Office services to Cuckfield while we continue to look for a permanent solution.

“We are also pleased to be restoring a service to Bolney and from a more central location than before.”

In September 2018, the Middy reported ‘sadness’ in the village at the closure of the former Cuckfield Post Office.

Giles Darling had taken on the business in 2013 and it was formally re-opened as a Post Office by former Mid Sussex MP Sir Nicholas Soames in 2014.

Before it closed, Mr Darling said customers understood the difficulty of the decision, adding there were fewer regular customers.

A Post Office spokesman said: “We understand and appreciate how much communities rely on our services. We are committed to providing a Post Office in the area.”