Campaigners have protested against the proposed sale and franchise of a Crown Post Office branch in Harringay.

Post Office Ltd say the changes will make the service more sustainable, and franchising has a proven track record of leading to success.

Customers will have the same service and products for longer hours, the company claims.

A protest was held outside Harringay Post Office, Green Lanes, on Saturday December 9.

Campaigner Steve Jones, national and postal executive of the Communication Workers Union who lives in Haringey, said: “I was overwhelmed by the response from local residents to join the Christmas protest against the proposed closure of Harringay Crown Post Office.

“Throughout the protest we had around 50 to 60 people join us and hundreds more signed our petition which adds to the thousands we have already collected.

“In recent months North London has lost Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Finsbury Park and Stoke Newington as Crown Post Offices as they have ‘privatized’ and are being turned into franchised outlets.

“This downgrades the services on offer and we understand all current staff in those offices are taking redundancy.

“New staff are likely to be hired on the minimum wage which has been the public declaration in Finsbury Park.

“This is an outrage as experienced and dedicated staff, most with over 20 years of service, feel they have no option other than to leave.

“As the Post Office is publicly owned it is us, the taxpayers, that foot the bill while the new owner pays a pittance.

“It’s a complete and utter disgrace to think that the public purse is being used to pay people off only to replace them with poverty wages.

“The public demonstration was a fantastic show of strength and determination with a great carnival atmosphere.

“Christmas music filled the air as people queued up to sign our petition demanding we keep the Crown Office open.

“Local people have been fighting this closure for the best part of a year and the support and numbers are growing.

“We had a great response from local councillors, trade unions and the local MP David Lammy gave a rabble rousing speech while the queues for the Post Office was snaking out onto the pavement – proving it is vitally needed.

“David pointed out that a vibrant high street needs a Post Office and that many of the most vulnerable people in society rely on it as do local businesses.

“He thanked everyone for their fantastic support and urged us to keep up the fight.

“This is something we will do and we will do whatever it takes to ensure we keep our Crown Post Office in its current location with its current staff with decent pay and conditions.

“It appears that the Post Office has a death wish by cutting practically every Crown Post Office on every High Street.

“Enough is enough.

“This campaign is not going away and the Post Office had better get used to it."

The majority of the Post Office’s 11,600 branches are run on a franchise or agency basis, alongside retail businesses.

Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park operate as franchises, as does Stoke Newington Post Office.

“Over the past two years we have been franchising some of our directly managed branches to ensure they are sustainable into the future, safeguarding our services.

“Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park remain at the same sites and offer customers longer opening hours to access our services –Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Stoke Newington are now open seven days a week.

All four Post Offices are scheduled to undergo refurbishment in the New Year.

New, modern, open plan layouts are planned alongside the retail businesses.

The Stoke Newington branch will move from 138 to 150 Stoke Newington High Street.

A Post Office spokesman, said: “The same services remain at all the branches, with the exception of the Home Office’s biometric enrolment service which is no longer available at Finsbury Park.

“There are no detailed plans for Harringay Post Office at the moment.

“We announced earlier this year that we were looking to franchise this branch and when there are detailed plans we will hold a six-week public consultation, considering the feedback from that before reaching a final decision.

“The reason for proposing to franchise Harringay is also sustainability – it’s a model that works, with retail businesses and Post Offices complementing each other.

“The Post Office is committed to keeping its branches on high streets and at the heart of communities, where people want our services to be.

“Franchising is a successful and proven way of doing this, ensuring Post Office services are accessible and convenient.”