SAVE OUR LOCAL POST OFFICES

They’re the backbone of Britain — and under threat. So today the Mail demands...

TOWNS and villages that have already lost their bank branches will be devastated if thousands of local post offices close as feared, campaigners warned last night.

Up to 2,500 will shut or downsize in the next year because financial struggles have put the network ‘beyond tipping point’, it has been claimed.

More than 1,000 have already shut, and 3,000 other branches described as the ‘last shop in the village’ are only being kept alive by subsidies.

High street banks axed 750 branches last year, leaving the post offices to offer vital banking services, a lifeline for many older customers in rural communities.

Today the Daily Mail launches a campaign calling on the Government to guarantee their future. We are calling for the network to be properly funded, with a full range of services over the counter for those who are not online.

Government subsidies for remote post office branches have already fallen from £415million in 2013-14 to £99million in 2017-18. Under current plans this will fall further to £50million in 2020-21 before being stopped completely.

Sub-postmasters, who run local post offices privately as franchises, are now paid as little as £12,000 a year by Post Office Limited. They also face the same plight as other high street concerns, such as extortionate business rates, rising staff costs and customers moving online.

Most post offices close when the sub-postmaster quits because of this financial squeeze.

At the moment Post Office Limited, which is owned by the Government, replaces branches when they shut, but campaigners have warned that the rate of closures in the coming years will make this impossible.

Last night MPs and peers backed the Mail’s campaign and called for immediate action.

Conservative MP Ian Liddell- Grainger, a member of the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee, said: ‘It is nothing short of a national disgrace that sub-postmasters are having to pay staff out of their own pocket to keep the service running.

‘I doff my cap to the Daily Mail for this important campaign, which is vitally needed.’

Labour peer Lord Hain added: ‘ There has been a wilful lack of imagination and an unwillingness of government to commit to post office branches. For rural areas, it is absolutely crucial that they do not disappear.’

Former Conservative chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin, the MP for Derbyshire Dales, said: ‘We need to find a way for post offices to continue being useful and usable.’

Britain’s 11,500 post offices face mounting financial pressures that, it is claimed, have already forced up to 1,000 out of business.

Sub-postmasters receive commission from the Post Office for services – for example, 3p each time they sell a stamp and 17p for a cash withdrawal. But more customers are going online to buy stamps and parcels, pay bills and to use government services.

Sub-postmasters have told a committee of MPs their take-home pay can be as little as £2 per hour. Three in four earn less than the minimum wage, according to a survey by the National Federation for Sub-Postmasters. Campaigners have raised particular concerns about the 3,200 mostly rural offices that only remain open thanks to a subsidy that is due to stop in 2021.

Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘With bank branches and cash points closing, a properly funded post office network is crucial to the success of small firms.’ Gillian Guy of Citizens Advice, added: ‘As the high street struggles, the post office continues to play an important role.’

Campaigners representing subpostmasters say their morale is at rock-bottom. Peter Hall of the NFSP said: ‘We received 12 closure notifications last week alone.’ The Post Office insisted: ‘We are working with postmasters and the NFSP to… ensure the network continues to thrive.’

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Department said it had ‘provided over £2billion of investment in the network since 2010.’

A committee of MPs will hear evidence on the network today.