Post office closure list released

Local people are being encouraged to take part in the consultation

The names of 45 post offices earmarked for closure in Devon have been confirmed.

The list of post offices in the county identified for closure had been leaked last week.

But the Post Office has identified a further 38, which are mainly rural branches, to become outreach services or mobile post offices.

A six-week public consultation has now been opened by the Post Office into the closure plan.

'Difficult decision'

"Taking the decision to close any Post Office branch is always very difficult and we know will cause concern to many of our customers," said Tim Nickolls, network development manager for Devon.

Here are many elderly people for whom it is a lifeline Derek Hilleard Post Office: Devon area plan

"The purpose of this public consultation is to ensure that we have the best available local knowledge to allow us to make the most informed decisions about which branches should close or be replaced by an outreach service."

Post offices on the list include those at Hennock, Offwell and Kellaton as well as ones in Plymouth, Torquay and Paignton.

The independent postal watchdog has encouraged people to join in the public consultation.

Nerina Bowdenhamer, from Postwatch, said: "It has been proven that because of public input some changes have been made to proposals and in very few cases some of these post offices closures have been withdrawn."

Abul Tarafder's branch at Pennycomequick in Plymouth is on the list and he has already started to campaign against closure.

"This office has been here for 60 or 70 years, people have grown up with this office and since I took over turnover has increased year on year."

Derek Hilleard from Bridgerule said their post office was vital and a website had been launched as part of a campaign to stop it being transferred to an outreach service.

"I use the post office a lot for my business and there are many elderly people for whom it is a lifeline," said Mr Hilleard.

"Standing outside and queueing for an outreach service in the pouring rain is not an option."