Work is being stolen by the web

NIDHI Prashar has been at the frontline of post office services for more than two decades.

She opened her second branch in Epsom, Surrey, with her husband 18 months ago but says she is under financial pressure.

Mrs Prashar, pictured left, laid much of the blame on the Government for pushing people into online services. ‘We know it is an internet world, but if they want us to survive they have to provide us with work,’ the mother of three said. ‘Whether its passports or pensions, the Government is not just giving people another option to post offices, they are directing people online. Work is being taken away from us. We are really up against a hard wall.’

Mrs Prashar feels optimistic but fears she may be ‘up in cloud cuckoo land’. With the minimum wage, council tax, business rates, lots of post offices are struggling, she added.

‘People want post offices. When this branch was closed before I took it over there was a huge uproar. Epsom wants a post office.’