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Cheeky plea for Post Office TV ads
CHEEKY postal chiefs are wanting budding actors in Hartlepool to star in Post office TV adverts.
Their plea comes at the same time as they're considering closing three of the town's branches.
Campaigners fighting to save the threatened post offices have labelled the competition 'insensitive' as the closing date coincides with a public consultation into the proposed closures.
One campaigner said bluntly: "It is crazy".
The six-week public consultation comes to a close on Wednesday, March 26 and the closing date for advert entries just days later on Monday, March 31.
The Post Office is currently undergoing a re-structuring process that will see 2,500 offices close in a bid to cut losses that topped 200m last year.
Despite the closure programme, Post Office bosses are appealing for people to enter the competition to star in their next television advert.
The Post Office has launched the competition, which has a closing date of March 31, on social networking site myspace.com.
Allan Barclay, 54, from Leyburn Street, Hartlepool, featured in the Mail after gathering support from councillors and residents to save the Elwick Road post office.
Allan, who was medically discharged from the Army after 25 years service, said: "I'm not very happy about this appeal for extras at all and I think the timing is very insensitive.
"We are trying to save the post offices from closing in Hartlepool and yet they can afford to spend all this money on advertising campaigns
"That money should be pumped back into the post office network.
"There has been a lot of people in Elwick Road up in arms about the closure and it is crazy that the competition closes in the same week as the public consultation.
"The Post Office seem to be acting as if nothing is happening."
Mayor of Hartlepool Stuart Drummond said: "The timing could have been better thought out but to be fair I can see their point of view and the need to advertise the services.
"One of the reasons behind the closures is because people aren't using post offices so the need to advertise is clear.
"Advertising is always a fine balance and there will always be questions over where the money would be best spent.."
A Post Office spokesman said: "The changes being made to the Post
Office network are not just about closures but creating a sustainable and profitable network for the future.
"It is therefore crucial that we promote our range of products and services to our customers in an effective way, to drive footfall into branches and generate sales to support the network."
The appeal for television extras came on the same day that ministers debated the proposed closures in the House of Commons.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "The fact of the matter is there are 800 post offices where on average 16 people attend every week and we have got to act."
To have the chance of appearing in the new television advert visit www.myspace.com/postofficeken. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 and over and they must sign up as a friend of Postmaster Ken Dawson on myspace.com to be in with a chance of landing a part.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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