POSTAL workers gathered to mark the end of an era as the Cowley mail centre closed its doors for good.

There was bitterness on the part of union leaders as well as a feeling of uncertainty among workers now joining the swelling ranks of the Oxford unemployed.

Derek Williams, 45, from Swinburne Road, Oxford, has worked at the centre for 25 years and has accepted redundancy rather than the chance to work for the new mail centre in Swindon which will sort Oxford mail from now on. He said: “I am very sad, not so much for myself but for the people I have worked with.

“I am hoping to start my own carpentry business, so for me it is an opportunity. Otherwise I would have been at the mail centre until I retired.”

Leon Price, 34, of Normandy Crescent, Oxford, said: I am leaving because going to Swindon was not an option for me as I have a young family.”

Shaf Rahman, 38, is one of about 60 workers to take up the option of becoming a postman based at the delivery office in Oxford’s Becket Street.

He said: “I didn’t want to change jobs and I didn’t want to go to Swindon but I have a young family to support. ”

The history of the Royal Mail in Oxford stretches back to 1635, with the sorting office established in Becket Street in 1920, before moving to the Oxford Business Park North ten years ago.

In recent years there have been several strikes and Oxford built up a reputation as being a hotbed of union activity.

A total of 450 jobs have gone at the Mail Centre with about 50 taking jobs in Swindon, while 50 more have become postmen.

Communication Workers Union representative Bob Cullen, 60, is taking retirement on health grounds following the closure.

He said: “I have spent 23 years at the Mail Centre and I feel very sad.

“There are about 350 people on the dole as a result of this.

“It was nothing to do with the quality of the service or financial advantages but it was a decision to attack the CWU nationally as this was the strongest branch of the union.”

Royal Mail regional operations director Rob Jenson said: “We believe that moving work from Oxford to Swindon will enable us to address an urgent need to improve the reliability of the mail services for our customers in the OX postcode area and improve the efficiency of our operation.”