Post Office Closures - sham consultation as all six close

8.59.22am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 29th May 2008

Post Office Limited is expected to confirm today that all six post offices earmarked for closure in and around Weston-super-Mare will be shut within weeks.

Despite a six week public consultation process that saw thousands of local residents register their opposition to the closure programme, the post offices in Upper Church Road, Kewstoke, Loxton, North Worle, Severn Road and Uphill will all shut.

Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Weston-super-Mare, who supported residents in campaigning against the closures and ran the www.savewestonpostoffices.org.uk website, described the news as "a black day for Weston".

He said: "This has been a sham consultation. The Post Office have only provided automatic acknowledgements and not replied to letters and petitions. They have shown contempt for the process and have clearly simply been going through the motions.

"The loss of these six local post offices, in most cases against the strong wishes of the sub-post master and the local community, is a disgrace. Our immediate thoughts should be with those who may lose their businesses and their jobs as a result of this decision. It is a black day for Weston."