Battle to stop more post office closures

'These post offices are part of the social fabric of England, and very often in Wealden they are the only shop in the village, providing an essential meeting place for the community,'said Council Leader Nigel Coltman.

'We are asking people to support their local post offices. It is important that the Government understands the damage its plans will cause.'

The Government is consulting on the closure of up to 2500 of the current national network of 14,000 post offices, with the possibility of 500 new 'Outreach' post offices in other buildings providing some sort of support.

Closures would begin in the summer.

A survey of over half of Wealden's sub postmasters, carried out by the district council, makes it clear just how important Wealden's current network of 44 post offices is.

The survey showed that not only would closure of rural post offices disproportionately affect the disadvantaged and vulnerable who use them to receive benefits and services, but it could frequently lead to the closure of the only shop in the village.

Many post offices double as a general store providing a vital service to the community. But '“ as the Wealden survey showed '“ without the Post Office side to the business, those shops would have great difficulty surviving.

Closure would also be likely to destroy the only social hub for many villages; hurt local small business and home workers who need handy services, and lead to many more unnecessary car journeys, damaging the environment.

Councillor Paul Sparks said the closure of sub post offices in Wealden towns like Uckfield would be of great concern, and would lead to customers having to drive four miles to another post office.

There are currently 44 post offices in Wealden at the following locations: