After hundreds of closures, one post office reopens for business

The first local post office to reopen in London following the loss of more than 450 branches in six years was back in business today.

The branch in the New Covent Garden Market at Nine Elms, near the site earmarked for the new American Embassy, was axed last year during a national programme of closures, leaving hundreds of businesses without post and banking services.

The impact across Wandsworth, which lost half of its post offices, was so severe that the council and the Covent Garden Market Authority have been negotiating a rescue plan with Post Office Limited to get the branch up and running again.

Services have been restored with previous postmaster, Rajat Patel, 50, back behind the counter. He said: "My redundancy money is gone and I was considering retraining so it was fantastic when I heard I would be back."

Wandsworth has provided £18,000 in start-up funding while the market authority is to help cover operational costs. Wandsworth's deputy leader Maurice Heaster said: "The branch provides a vital service to more than 240 market-based businesses."