7:50am Wednesday 18th April 2012
By James Pepper
The Post Office has seen a mad rush for stamps ahead of the price rise at the end of the month.
Staff at Grove Road branch in Sutton said it was running out of stamps as people hurry to beat the hike, scheduled for April 30.
Although, officially, the Post Office said it has "adequate stock", staff say stamps are in short supply.
Customers and businesses are stocking up on stamps before the price of a first class stamp jumps from 46p to 60p.
The price of a second class stamp will increase from 36p to 50p.
One forward-thinking businessman at the Sutton branch snapped up 1,000 books of 1st class stamps to save money for his company in the coming months.
John Mascardo, customer sales advisor at the Grove Road branch, said some stamps were already running out.
He said: "You would think we would have been sent plenty ahead of the Easter weekend, but we are running out of some of the books.
"Although I did not serve the man who bought the 1,000 books, you can see why businesses are doing it."
After speaking to a Sutton Guardian reporter, Mr Mascardo was then handed a note by a colleague, which he read out.
He said: "Oh, actually, a memo has just come through, and we do actually have adequate supplies of stamps."
A spokesman for the Post Office said: "There is no shortage of stamps available to our customers.
"We have more than adequate stock in place to meet customer demand through around 45,000 outlets across the UK.
"When the price of a First Class stamp increases from 46p to 60p on April 30, it is important that the proceeds of this price rise go to Royal Mail.
"We have lost £1 billion over the last four years.
"We need to put the Universal Service on a sound financial footing through these price rises for the benefit of everybody in the UK."
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