Fury over sealed postbox

Fury erupted in central Wandsworth last night as residents were left unable to post crucial mail items following the arbitrary sealing of a vital Royal Mail postbox.

The red letter box on the junction of Wandsworth High Street and Broomhill Road was declared out of bounds to local residents on July 23 and will not be restored to service until August 12.

"This is yet another example of callous coalition cutbacks," complained one angry passer-by. "First they cut key national infrastructure projects without a moment's consideration of the impact on the macro-economic environment. Then they took the axe to weeping children's cherished play centres. And now they've closed the much-loved postbox on Broomhill Road. It's just slash, slash, slash all day long with this lot. I knew no good would ever come of letting the Liberal Democrats into government. They are just plain evil - out to get ordinary folk like you and me. Mind you, there always seems to be plenty of money to spend on asylum seekers. AND single mothers."

Campaigners for the elderly also voiced fears that the postbox closure would put the lives of frail pensioners at risk. "Senior citizens will see this as the final straw," warned one leading charity figure. "A trip to the postbox used to be the social highlight of the week for many old folk. Now all they have left to look forward to is pushing their mock-Tartan trolleys round Aldi in search of cut-price cat food and custard creams." 

WandsworthEye can also reveal that Royal Mail and the Liberal Democrats are cynically using the London Olympics as an excuse to mask their vindictive cost-cutting programme. A notice on the abandoned postbox blames "local transport changes during the Games period" for the wicked decision to bar residents from posting their law-abiding letters.

"This is just typical of Royal Mail and the Liberal Democrats," said one influential figure in Wandsworth's Postbox Appreciation Society. "The Broomhill Road closure has nothing whatsoever to do with the Olympics. The LibDems just hate postboxes and will do anything in their power to destroy them. I would urge all concerned residents to write to their MP and demand the immediate restoration of a much-loved local facility. Long live the Broomhill Road postbox!"

There is speculation that a candle-lit vigil will be held around the postbox in the nights to come. And campaigners are hopeful that leading national figures including Polly Toynbee, Shami Chakrabarti and Kate & Gerry McCann will attend.