Labour sounds 'death knell' for the Post Office

It means the Government will have shut nearly 40 per cent of Britain's Post Offices since it came to power in 1997.

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The massive and rapid closure programme is the equivalent of shutting down every branch of Tesco and Sainsbury's in the country.

From next summer, 32 Post Offices every week in villages, towns and cities across Britain will hang up the 'Closed' sign forever.

In the 1960s, there were 25,000 Post Offices. By December 2008, there will be just 12,000.

In future, people will only need to be given 'reasonable' access to Post Office 'services,' but not an actual branch, the Government admitted.

At best, basic services, such as weighing a package and paying pensions, could be available in a local pub for a couple of hours every week.

Post Office branches will be 'replaced' with mobile vans visiting villages on an occasional basis, which already operate in remote parts of the countryside.

In other places, a church, a village hall or a shop will play 'host', offering a limited postal service, but not hugely popular services such as foreign currency.

Critics yesterday slammed Labour for allowing the Post Office network to crumble, which will hit the elderly more than any other age group.

Charles Hendry, Shadow Post Offices Minister, said: 'This will bring fear and anxiety to people in every part of the country.

'A van for a couple of hours a week is no replacement for a Post Office open full-time.'

Labour wants 99 per cent of Britain to be 'within three miles' of Post Office 'services', a distance which will cause misery for millions of people.

For many, it will spell the end to the traditional trip to the Post Office to buy some stamps, take out their pension and have a chat with the sub-postmaster.

Millions of pensioners will be defeated by such a large distance when even a short walk to the local Post Office can be a struggle.

In remote areas, it will be even worse with only 95 per cent of the population having to be within six miles of postal services.

Royal Mail plans to set up 'at least 500 outlets' around the country to give access to postal services for small, remote communities.

Royal Mail is already trialling different options, such as mobile post vans which visit up to 40 local villages and the chance to buy cash and stamps in a local pub.

The vans, which are liveried in the Post Office colours, park in the same place in the village each week at the same time, and have an awning for customers to shelter from the rain or wind. They can do most of the basic services, such as withdrawing cash, but not other popular services, such as foreign currency exchange and car tax renewal.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling said the closures were people's fault for 'simply not using Post Offices as they once did.'

At present, the situation is very different with the vast majority of the country living within one mile of a Post Office branch, not just 'services.'

More than 99 per cent of people in urban areas live within one mile of a branch, and 82 per cent of people in rural areas.

David Sinclair, senior policy manager at the charity Help the Aged, said: 'This anouncement has sounded the death knell for a truly national Post Office network which so many older people rely on each and every day.

'Instead of viewing the Post Office as a genuine public service in need of support, it seems the Government has bowed to pressure to cut costs and protect profit margins.'

Villages will be hit by the long-awaited closure plans because Post Offices will be legally allowed to shut down if there is another one nearby.

Such a move will be a tragedy for the village which loses its branch because the Post Office is often the last shop and seen as 'the heart of the community.'

The proposals, revealed by the Department of Trade and Industry, will now be subject to a 12-week consultation, which could spark a bitter campaign.

Depending on the outcome, they will begin closing next summer and will be shut down over just 18 months, the fastest-ever closure programme.

In a radical U-turn, Labour bowed to criticism over plans to axe the popular Post Office Card Account, just seven years after it was launched.

Its plans prompted more than four million people to sign the largest petition ever handed to Prime Minister furious about plans to scrap it.

Labour promised to launched 'a new account' from 2010, when the POCA contract ends, which will be available nationally.

About 3.3 million people, including 2.2 million pensioners, have a POCA which is like a basic bank account to withdraw pensions and other benefits.

It will continue to pay a subsidy of 'around £150 million' a year to keep the network alive, which has doubled its losses to £4 million a week over the last year.

Sub-postmasters will be able to volunteer for redundancy, and will get compensation equal to 28-months salary.

For some of the 1,600 Post offices which serve just 20 customers a day, this will be peanuts. For others, it will be worth about £60,000.

Royal Mail, which will decide where the axe will fall, said it will take 'some time to consider the details of the Government's announcement.'