Save our local post offices! Mail launches campaign to preserve vital branches closing in their thousands

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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.

Mark Baker, 61, above, and his wife Erika, 56, have been running their Wiltshire post office for 32 years. But he says if his pay is cut one more time he will close – leaving the Larkhill garrison of 4,000 troops without a post office

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.

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

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.

Today the Daily Mail launches a campaign calling on the Government to guarantee their future

‘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

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 sub-postmasters 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.  

Postmasters in peril – and those who’ve already shut 

I’m only hanging on by the skin of my teeth...

After 17 years serving her Cornish village, Shann Rodgers says the only thing keeping her from closing is loyalty to her elderly customers.

The 61-year-old, pictured above, has seen her salary dwindle from £25,000 to £18,000 through changes in how the Post Office funds rural branches.

‘I am hanging on by the skin of my teeth,’ she said. ‘There is nowhere for this post office to go and I cannot sell it because it is worthless.’

Shann Rodgers said when she initially bought the property the post office business added a value of £75,000, which she now says is worth nothing due to the poor profitability of the business

Her post office in Goldsithney, a village of around 1,500, provides a vital service to elderly residents who use it for financial transactions.

‘I cannot leave these people in the lurch,’ she said. ‘It is mostly elderly people here and I am staying for these people rather than the Post Office.’

Mrs Rodgers said when she initially bought the property the post office business added a value of £75,000, which she now says is worth nothing due to the poor profitability of the business.

She added: ‘I am going to see how the next two years goes under my current contract but you are essentially in limbo all the time.’

 We don’t stand a chance

Mark Baker, 61, runs a cattery and a pet shop, and sells sweets and stationery in the post office, which bring in around £34,000 revenue

Mark Baker, 61, and his wife Erika, 56, have been running their Wiltshire post office for 32 years. 

But he says if his pay is cut one more time he will close – leaving the Larkhill garrison of 4,000 troops without a post office.

In 2015 his commission from Post Office Ltd was reduced from £33,000 to £14,000, and recently it was cut again to £12,000. 

Mr Baker, right, runs a cattery and a pet shop, and sells sweets and stationery in the post office, which bring in around £34,000 revenue.

He said: ‘You should get more commission not less – Post Office Ltd can afford to pay us properly. We don’t stand a chance of making money.’

Family that’s shutting shop after 140 years 

A post office run by the same family for 140 years is closing. Having taken over the business that her great-grandfather started back in 1879, Claire Hutchings has decided to shut down – partly due to rising financial pressure.

In a village that has already lost a doctor’s surgery, a pub, and with the local shop up for sale, the closing of the post office marks another blow for Prestbury, Gloucestershire.

Mrs Hutchings, 62, said: ‘Post offices are vital. ‘They used to be one-stop shops where people could get everything they need and catch up with friends but today, people are doing things so much more online.’

The married mother of two, who is pictured with colleague Janet Warburton, added: ‘Customer demand has dramatically fallen over recent years. It is no longer a sustainable business. As well as dealing with letters, post offices are a good way to check up on people.

‘I know 99 per cent of the customers by name and many know me from when I was a girl.’

Having taken over the business that her great-grandfather started back in 1879, Claire Hutchings has decided to shut down – partly due to rising financial pressure. Ms Hutchings is pictured right, with colleague Janet Warbuton, left

We don’t want village to be without a P.O.

One of Britain’s first post offices was forced to shut down earlier this month after 224 years.

The closure has resulted in the loss of a Dorset village’s only cashpoint, leaving residents to travel the three miles to Lyme Regis to use a cash machine.

Steve Pile and his wife Gill, pictured right, say they were told in 2013 by Post Office Ltd that they must downsize their business in Charmouth and move to premises in another shop.

The couple described the decision as illogical, saying the local population of 1,300 was enough to sustain a full postal service.

‘We don’t want to leave the community without a post office, we are the heart of the village,’ said Mr Pile, 70.

‘You get to the point where you fight and carry on or give up. It was affecting me physically and mentally so we decided to retire. Fortunately we own the building so we sold to a new tenant.’

Steve Pile and his wife Gill, pictured right, say they were told in 2013 by Post Office Ltd that they must downsize their business in Charmouth and move to premises in another shop

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 laid much of the blame on the Government for pushing people into online services. 

Nidhi Prashar laid much of the blame on the Government for pushing people into online services. Mrs Prashar feels optimistic but fears she may be ‘up in cloud cuckoo land’

‘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.’

Is your local post office under threat? Tell us today. postoffice@dailymail.co.uk