Tories urge Post Office axe halt

Post Office closures are due to take place over an 18-month period

A Commons motion is to be tabled by the Conservatives, seeking the suspension of the government's programme to shut 2,500 Post Offices across the UK.

The Tories said they would highlight the impact of any closures on elderly and disabled people, plus "widespread public dismay" about the idea.

"This has been a horribly botched exercise," said Alan Duncan, the shadow secretary for business and enterprise.

The closures are necessary to reduce weekly losses of £4m, ministers insist.

Fewer people are using the Post Office network, they say, and this has led to the financial difficulties.

When it announced the closures in December 2006, the government said it wanted to ensure that remaining branches were modernised.

It was seeking a return to profitability in main offices and investment in new products and services.

Council involvement

Mr Duncan said the decision to press ahead with the scheme had backfired, however.

"Across the country, MPs have been campaigning to highlight the failings of the closure plan," he said.

"We think it is right that, in the light of all the complaints and concerns, Parliament should now call a halt to the process."

The leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hanningford, has said that up to 50 local authorities were investigating whether they could save branches scheduled for closure by running those post offices themselves.

The Tories' motion is to be debated in the Commons on Wednesday, 19 March.