TEN jobs are to be lost to Tywyn, as Royal Mail confirmed it is closing the town’s sorting office and moving the operations across the county border to Machynlleth.

The 10 staff are being offered relocation, but face driving an extra 150 miles a week.

And residents and businesses in the area will now receive their deliveries later in the day.

The Cambrian News reported in October of last year how bewildered Royal Mail staff heard “out of the blue” about plans to relocate their jobs to another county.

The loss of the sorting office is yet another body blow for the region which has lost numerous facilities such as banks, a courthouse, council offices and a tourist information centre in recent months.

Ian Garbutt, line manager at the Tywyn branch, felt the decision to move to Machynlleth had been made many months ago and that relocation was “inevitable”.

“We were told last week that the move was happening, but we’ve known for a while, the change was inevitable. We’re not happy, but what can we do?” he said.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “This is part of Royal Mail’s ongoing transformation of its business and its work to increase the efficiency of its operations and to address the structural decline in letter volumes and the rise in the number of parcels being sent.

“We will work with our staff and our unions to give them the opportunity to discuss the implications in detail.”

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