Hundreds of post offices replaced by 'downgraded' service

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Around 2,000 of the country’s 11,500 post offices are being turned into the smaller outlets.

HUNDREDS of post offices are expected to close as a result of ­controversial plans to create a new breed of “local” branches.

Around 2,000 of the country’s 11,500 post offices are being turned into the smaller outlets.

They will offer limited services, cutting back on things like ­applying for driving licences or sending bulky parcels overseas.

Ministers say the Post Office Locals will help secure the future of the troubled network, which has already seen numbers fall from 12,000 branches 12 years ago.

Where a sub-postmaster remains after the changes, the post office will stay in the same location. But a study in areas where the scheme is being piloted shows three-quarters are quitting.

Sub-postmasters having to ­convert to ­“locals” will lose their £8,500 ­salary, holiday and sick pay from the Royal Mail.

They will have to make up the shortfall by expanding into other retail areas. But the Rural Shops Alliance says a small village shop is unlikely to generate enough extra money in this way.

It warns that hundreds of post offices will shut to be replaced by “locals” run by inexperienced staff in locations such as ­newsagents, corner shops and petrol stations.

Spokesman Ken Parsons said: “If the figures from our pilot study were replicated with the national roll-out to 2,000 “local” branches, then about 1,550 would be moving to new locations.”

In December, a study of “locals” by watchdog ­Consumer Focus found customers were having to travel miles to bigger post offices to get the services they wanted.