Post Office 'working really hard' to restore service in upper Teesdale

A POST Office crisis in the upper dale has entered its fourth week with a lack of mobile signal and poor infrastructure blamed as the cause.

Post Office services in Middleton-in-Teesdale and Eggleston have been non-existent since late November – with Mickleton only seeing one visit of the two-hour mobile branch last week.

It has meant dale folk have had to travel to Cotherstone and Barnard Castle to post packages or access services in the busy Christmas period.

The Post Office has blamed “technical issues” for the no-show of branch outlets in Eggleston and Middleton-in-Teesdale in the past month.

And efforts to open up a temporary outreach service have been hampered by poor internet connections.

In an update last week, Cllr Andy Mitchell told Middleton-in-Teesdale and Newbiggin Parish Council how it had not been possible for the Post Office to secure a mobile van to fill the breach.

“The nearest van services operate from Tow Law and they are full,” he said.

“It’s bang on Christmas when you really need it.”

Middleton has been without a Post Office since the owners of the Village Sweet Shop working from the former HM Cooke Haberdashery closed up in August.

Cafe Fresh, on Horsemarket, has offered to temporarily host an outreach service for a few hours a week in the village.

But efforts to get the system running have hit a brick wall for two weeks running.

Cafe co-owner Phil Dawson said: “They still can’t get it working.

“Head office will not let them use our internet, which is safe, but not safe enough for them.”

Cllr Christine Gilbert had her own theory on the technical impasse.

She added: “My guess is they have changed the IP address. It will be something really trivial and it sounds to me like the engineer does not have a clue what he’s doing.”

Mr Dawson said he and Cafe Fresh co-owner Chris Johnson were trying to get the Post Office to pay for a secure connection soon.

Elsewhere, a mobile branch did manage to open in Mickleton Village Hall last Tuesday (December 19) but Eggleston has not seen it’s weekly service reinstated – despite efforts last Friday.

A notice was pinned to the door of Eggleston village hall last Friday saying the old equipment is being sent for – but that may take until the new year.

Villager Morag McPhie has been forced to use services in Barnard Castle. The 93-year-old said: “It’s a great nuisance – I get my money out from the Post Office.

“I am a bit handicapped and I cannot walk very far.”

Postal problems have meant even longer journeys for those further up the dale.

Sue Matthews, landlord of the Langdon Beck Hotel, feared for the trade impacts.

She said: “The problem is it’s forcing people to Barnard Castle and it takes trade away from Middleton which is not good. On days you can get around it’s okay but on snowy days it just makes it even more difficult.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We understand how important Post Office services can be to a community, which is why we have been working really hard to resolve the connection issues with Barnard Castle Post Office’s outreach services. We’re pleased to say that we have been able to restore services to the majority, although there are still some issues impacting Middleton -in-Teesdale’s service.

“We are doing all we can to get these resolved, and will be visiting the service tomorrow to offer support and try and get everything back up and running for the community.”