18 local post offices on government closure hitlist?

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 17th May 2007

Local post offices in Weston-super-Mare and the villages could be under threat warns Lib Dem campaigner Mike Bell

Around 18 post offices across north Somerset could face the axe under a Government closure programme announced today.

Five post offices in Weston-super-Mare constituency, five in Woodspring and eight in Wells could all face the axe as the Government looks to shut 2,500 post offices nationwide - one fifth of the total network.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling will announce 'local area reviews' in the House of Commons today aimed at dramatically reducing the size of the post office network.

4,000 post offices have already been closed under the Labour Government and 3,500 were shut under the previous Conservative administration.

Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Weston-super-Mare, said: "The Government is sounding the death knell for many communities across north Somerset.

"Fifteen post offices in Weston and the surrounding towns and villages in northern Somerset have already closed in the last five years. Now eighteen more could face the axe.

"Many villages have already lost local shops and pubs and now face losing their post office too. Even in major towns like Weston, the withdrawal of post office services has forced older residents and young families to travel further to collect pensions and benefits and use other services. It's a disgrace.

"The Government has systematically removed core business from post offices, leaving them running at a loss and vulnerable. They simply don't seem to care about the damage they are doing to our villages and towns.

"We will now go through the charade of 'consultation' as the Government seeks to justify its actions. We must leave them in no doubt that we won't accept further post office closures."