WIRRAL Council has expressed 'disappointment' over a decision not to reverse recent postcode changes and the Deputy Leader says they will not follow Royal Mail's rules.

Those affected include homes and businesses in Beechwood, Noctorum, Oxton and Claughton who drop Birkenhead from their postal address and add Prenton instead.

The decision angered residents who felt that Royal Mail had altered town and geographical boundaries without consultation and had ignored some areas' historic links with Birkenhead.

Deputy Leader of Wirral Council Coun Steve Foulkes said: "When the changes were originally proposed we did not agree with them and voiced our misgivings. Those misgivings have since been echoed by many residents in letters to us and the local media.

"We were concerned that the new system would cause confusion and failed to recognise the historical links with some areas to Birkenhead rather than Prenton," he added.

Following an all-Party campaign by Wirral Council, the Royal Mail has now told Council Chief Executive Steve Maddox that the new system still stands.

Said Coun Foulkes: "We are disappointed at the Royal Mail's refusal to reverse the changes, as we had hoped they would see sense.

"We understand they will be writing to customers in the CH43 area to let them know they can still use their town as part of their address as long as they continue to include Prenton as the post town in the address.

"We, too, will still be using the appropriate town names as part of the address. Contrary to advice from Royal Mail, we will not be including Prenton as part of that postal address. However, the change to the new CH postcode has been achieved satisfactorily and we urge all residents and businesses in the area to use it in all correspondence."

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