Likely collapse of Rural PO Network

3.14.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 25th Jul 2006

The threat by the Government to reduce the number of Post Offices from the current 14,500 down to perhaps only 4,000 has appalled David Rendel, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson in Newbury.

"The existence of a local Post Office is so important to many people's lives, particularly in the rural villages of West Berkshire, that I made it the main subject of my maiden speech in the House of Commons as long ago as 1993", said Mr Rendel. "I still remember the elderly lady I met during the Newbury by-election who would spend a large part of every day in her local Post Office. It was her only source of contact with other human beings."

"Often the local Post Office is also the main reason the village shop stays open. So a cutback in the number of Post Offices of anything like the suggested size will be the death of many of our rural villages. It seems that stealth taxes are now being followed by stealth cuts."