Burnham-On-Sea’s MP met with the boss of PayPoint this week to press for more facilities in the town to top-up electricity and gas payment keys.
Tessa Munt met Peter Brooker, Head of Corporate Affairs at PayPoint, in parliament to discuss the availability of payment machines after Burnham-On-Sea.com first reported on the lack of facilities last month.
Frustrated residents in Burnham, including Lyn Salvidge (pictured with Tessa Munt), say the town is poorly served because just one outlet – the town’s Post Office – offers the facilities to re-charge the widely-used utility keys.
Tessa said: “Having used PayPoint myself for my gas and electricity for some years, I understand how important it is to be able to make top-up payments when you have the money to do so. Often, these credits are for small sums as you have to stretch the household budget as far as possible. It’s hard to do that if your PayPoint is only availble during working hours, or closed at the weekends.”
“This problem affects many local residents living in flats, and the tourists in self-catering accommodation as well.”
Tessa discussed the options for installing a PayPoint in Burnham shops that have extended opening hours and Peter agreed it is essential to provide more PayPoints locally so members of the public can access the machines.
Tessa added: “I’m grateful to Peter Brooker for coming to London to discuss extending PayPoint services in Burnham-on-Sea. I am pleased that PayPoint is genuinely keen to make more machines available locally so no-one is left without power at any time.”
The matter was also discussed by town councillors on Wednesday (March 23rd), when Cllr Arthur Thorogood proposed that the soon-to-re-open Tourist Information Centre on Burnham seafront should have a paypoint.
“I think the TIC would be an ideal location for a machine – it’s easily accessible and will be open throughout the week.”
Tessa Munt is pictured with resident Lyn Salvidge outside Burnham Post Office
