IT would seem that Labour are about to rip the heart out of the rural communities by closing 10,500 of the remaining 14,000 sun post offices.

Adam Crozier, chief executive of the Post Office, says he needs only 4,000 post offices to operate a successful network. What about the needs of the public? Post offices play a vital part in our communities and Mr Crozier and new Labour must not be allowed to get away with these cuts.

It is fair to say we have seen this coming but not the scale of the possible closures. Over the past few years the government have done all in their power to force the closure of post offices. They have bullied those on pensions and benefits to have them paid direct into bank accounts cutting out the post office.

And now they are planning to scrap the present card scheme that is used by many to draw benefits from post offices. This will affect 4.5 million people. Ninety per cent of post office business is government related so they are holding the trump card. These closures must be fought to the bitter end.

A Barker, Melksham