This included calling in at St Peter's Road, March, asking them to display a poster about the threat of closure and the underhand way the Post Office, aided and abetted by Government, were going about it.

The essence of my case was, in a cynical ploy, the 2,500 closures, instead of being announced nationally with the naming of the post offices concerned, were being 'picked off' area by area over a year.

It seems to me this strategy has worked admirably in that now the axe has finally fallen in our area, the only people who will be seriously concerned are those directly affected by the closures, with the media focus inevitably falling on the Harecroft Road PO in Wisbech and St Peter's Road in March.

Is anybody really bothered, other than the villagers, that the closures in Christchurch and Benwick will result in not only the closure of the post offices there but also the probable demise of the only village shop?

Offers of so called 'outreach' services are so much codswallop which I would wager won't last more than 12 months.

I suspect the so called 'consultation' period may well result in a reprieve for the post offices in March and Wisbech but I'm afraid the villagers of Christchurch and Benwick can kiss goodbye to their facilities, leaving the elderly, infirm and those without easy access to a car, without their village lifeline.

To me, the real villains in this sad episode are the Government and in particular, the Minister for Postal Affairs The Rt. Hon. P McFadden MP.

I would urge everybody who has any concern for the plight of those in our rural areas, to write to the Minister c/o the House of Commons and make their views known.

REG KEMP,
Scargells Lane,
March.