Why has Hoghton post office been closed this week?

Houghton Post Office, The Straits, in Hoghton, Preston, has been unable to operate as usual due to a technical glitch which is causing a fault with the card payment system.

A number of residents took to social media in the hope of finding answers. One said: “The post office has some sort of system failure so they can’t do anything postal related”, while another added that “workmen can’t find fault”. However, some were confused as to which post office was shut as there are two close by – the other called Gregson Lane on Alder Lane.

One resident claimed they had been to the shop earlier in the week and had heard staff telling a customer the problem would take at least two more weeks to sort out. Another was confused as to whether the actual shop was shut or just the post office. Another woman claimed that the Higher Walton post office is open, to which another thought it had shut down, but was informed that it is now in the Premier shop.

Owner Allan Sanderson told the Post the close was due to a technical hitch but added he was hoping the problem would be fixed in time for Christmas. He added: "We are not closing. I keep ringing the regulars to tell them we are not shutting down. We have been having technical problems for the past two weeks which no-one seems to be able to sort. We have had four Openreach engineers and five post office engineers out. We do get problems but usually nothing of this sort of for this long. We have another technician coming out tomorrow, someone different and hopefully they will be able to sort the problem.”

Where is my nearest post office to Hoghton?

Gregson Lane – 8 Alder Lane, Hoghton, Preston, PR5 0AD.

Higher Walton – 352 Higher Walton Road, Higher Walton, Preston PR5 4HT.

Clayton Brook, 77 Tunley Holme, Clayton Brook, Preston, PR5 8ES.

Bamber Bridge, 1 Cottonmill Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston, PR5 6LF.

Openreach have been approached for comment.